Run
by krossfire
Summary: Her homelife is a wreck, her friends couldn't do anything to help her, so Helga made an ultimate decision to run away from home and head to San Lorenzo to meet Arnold.
1. Waiting

_Preface: _I never really wanted to make a Arnold and Helga fanfic ever since I joined this community because I think there's just too many of them. Don't get me wrong, some of them are great, but there's also the ones that's just plain bad. However, I leave this one for you to judge. I got inspired when I read one of Craig's chat logs with the fans, saying that he had this idea of Helga running away to find Arnold. This fanfic is set in their teens period, so expect a lot of drama in it. And I try to level down the angst as much as possible, because I am easily amused with teen angst. Don't ask why.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 1: Waiting

"Welcome to United Airways. Can I help you miss?" a perky, happy, cheerful airline clerk behind the counter asked a blonde female teenager, whose mood was a complete opposite of the clerk's as of right now: uncertain, weary and feeling just plain miserable.

"Do you have a direct one way ticket to San Lorenzo?" the girl asked in a weak, sorrowful tone.

"San Lorenzo?" she asked back, "I'm sorry but our flights don't go there, but I can get you as far as San Jose." She replied with a merry voice. "There, you can get a direct flight to San Lorenzo. I can book it for you if you want."

"That'll do a lot, thanks. Student price, please."

The clerk shot back a soft smile and said to her, "Can I have your passport and your identifications, please?" The girl then gave her passport and her student card to the clerk and waited for further instructions from her.

"Helga Geraldine Pataki…" she muttered softly under her breath, as she inputted her name into the computer. As the clerk occupied herself with her job, Helga took the opportunity to look around and admire the newly upgraded airport. It was huge, clean and surprisingly, not very busy as she had imagined since this was after all an international airport. People were only few and between and shops and restaurants were attended by only a few patrons. She also thought again whether this plan of hers was the right thing to do. It was so abrupt, so sudden that she wanted to kick herself why she even thought of doing it. It was very spontaneous and unplanned that she thought it'd be a miracle if she ever managed to pull it off. Then she thought of her beloved Arnold, was all these worth it just to see him again?

"Miss… oh, miss… hey kid." the clerk called her, and finally Helga responded, "Sorry, I was too preoccupied with my thoughts…" she explained to her.

But the clerk didn't care much about her explanation, and said to her, "Here's your ticket and your boarding pass, and I have reserved a seat for you for the interchanging flight to San Lorenzo upon your arrival in Costa Rica." She said with a joyful smile.

"Thanks." Helga replied dryly as she took the tickets from her.

"Do you have any baggage to put into the cargo compartment?"

"Nah, I'll just bring my backpack into the cabin."

"Okay, you're all settled then. Boarding is scheduled to be a half an hour from now. Just go down to the escalator over there to the gates. Have a pleasant flight!" she pointed out, and smiled again at Helga. "NEXT!"

Helga then walked away from the counter to the escalator, gazing at the tickets in one of her hand and holding her laptop bag in the other, while carrying her luggage at her back. Her small backpack that she brought to school everyday was stuffed with her clothes and some hygiene products that she had brought along from home. They made the backpack look fat and she was sort of uncomfortable with it. Glancing at the tickets, she had a small sensation of regret of buying them. She couldn't bail out now, the tickets had been paid for and it'd be a waste if she just walked away from the airport. Her journey must go on. San Lorenzo, a country which was totally alien to her, will be accepting her as a guest in a matter of hours. After she descended from the escalator, the passport booths awaited her. She then took one with the shortest line and waited for her turn.

"Next." The passport guy called, and quickly Helga went over to the booth and showed him her passport.

"Good evening." The checker greeted politely as he took her passport away and checked it. He flipped a couple of pages over and inputted something on the computer. "San Lorenzo, huh?" he opened a small conversation. "I heard it's nice this time of year." Helga could only smile weakly back. After a tense, nervous wait, which she questioned herself why should she be nervous about it, the checker gave her the passport back and said, "Have a pleasant flight," as he shot a soft smile at her. "Next."

"_He didn't ask why I'm going there or anything."_ She wondered, as she put her passport back into the pouch of her bag. After passing airport security, she then went onwards to the waiting lounge. The international transit lounge was certainly livelier than the check-in mezzanine, she had thought. Shops were open, people were sitting around in the lobby, kids playing with the trolley, and restaurants were busy with patrons. She suddenly felt hungry. She wanted to go to Burger Emperor and have some quick munchies, but on second thought, she'd rather save the money she had. And most of the money she was holding right now wasn't hers, she stole them from Olga.

A faint remorse suddenly enveloped her as she looked at the 327 dollars worth of cash that she stole in her purse. She probably shouldn't steal them from Olga's secret stash that she had kept for years for an emergency if one should happen. But then she thought, why bother thinking about it now, she already got her money. It'd be the best for her to spend less to ease her guilt a bit. But she promised herself that she'll return whatever's left at the end of her trip and repay her back. Feeling that window shopping around will tempt her to buy something, she decided to just go to her gate and waited to get on board her flight.

Located at the East Wing of the airport, she was the first one to be there. She put her bag on an empty seat and sat next to it. She let out a heavy sigh, lowered her head down, looking at the carpet covered floor. In her mind, she wondered that… whether this whole running away from home thing was a good idea in the first place. She even hit the lowest of low by stealing her sister's money to cover her travel expanses. The reason why she ran away because her family was a total wreck and her friends didn't do their best to help her out. She wanted run away from them as far as possible, to run away from her problems. She wanted to seek help. She wanted someone who could really comfort her in her time of needs.

Someone who would understand her.

Someone who would soothe her miserable heart and heal her ailing soul.

Someone who she had known for years and has yet to let her down.

Someone who she loves so dearly.

Arnold.

---

_The Patakis' house…_

Olga just got home from a brainstorming session with her fellow actors for a play. It was about 9:30 PM, but to her surprise, the house was dark and nobody was home. This was strange since Bob would sit in front of the television for hours until after midnight. She then switched the light on and to her shock, she saw a vase was broken into pieces and its contents poured out from it. It looked like somebody had thrown the vase out from the living room and hit the wall outside it. This worried Olga a lot. Slowly she crept upstairs and checked each of and every room. Helga wasn't in her room, Mommy and Daddy weren't in theirs, and nobody was in the bathrooms and closets. She then went into her room to check it out.

Not surprisingly, no one was there. She scanned around to see whether anything was missing. She then went over to her table to check. She saw a paper placed in the middle of table with 'To Olga Pataki' written on it. It read:

_Dearest sister,_

_This is the hardest decision that I've ever done, but I assure you that I am fine. As of right now, you're the only one that I can open my heart to. I can no longer bear this wreckage of a family, and this nightmare of a house. My friends ignore me, and I have had it. I've decided to escape from all of them by leaving this place as far as possible. By the time you read this, I'm probably on a plane right now, contemplating on my next journey. But I promise this, I will come back eventually, but I don't know when. Wish me luck._

_Love,  
__Helga._

Olga was utterly horrified. She didn't know what to do. Her parents were nowhere to be found and she didn't know where to start.

* * *

Good? Or just plain horrifiying? Put a review and I might just write a second chapter. Thanks. 


	2. Broken

_Author Note: _The responses that I've received so far are very positive and constructive, and because of that I thank you all so much for the very helpful input. I'm not ashamed to admit that my tenses are my weaknesses, and hopefully with your help, I will improve. Yes, after Helga have meet with Arnold I will write the reason why did she ran away from home. But with this chapter right now it just covers a portion of the actual picture, to keep the story interesting. And I hope you will find it interesting too. The reason why Helga left her sister a note is because she indeed got closer with her as she grew up, but not as close that she would share everything with her. She has matured, but the sibling rivalry is still there. Olga will have a role to play in this story, since I don't want this story to be Arnold and Helga alone. And I want the early chapters just to be a story about her journey. Helga knows Arnold's address, since in the chat Craig stated that she always write letters to him, but never actually send any. So I assume Helga knows where he lives. Hopefully these answers all your questions. Oh, and another thing, I've updated my profile again, and I invite all of you to read it. Changing of the Guards will be up for reading after the weekends and a new one shot fanfic called "Nothing Has Changed" will be up this weekend. Hopefully.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 2: Broken

With his heart still swelling with fury, Bob drove his car around the city without any particular destination to go to. If the road was still in front of him, he'll continue. If there was a dead end, he'll turn around back and resumed his journey to nowhere. He suddenly had this idea of visiting his favorite watering hole, which he hadn't been there since the last six months, to drown his sorrow. His nerves were absolutely wrecked right now, as if it was hit by a train many times over. Oh how he wanted to build a peaceful, loveable family like the ones in television. But no, what he had now was a broken, miserable, and a dysfunctional family. He was so frustrated with that thought that he banged his fist on the steering wheel, inhaling through his clenched teeth. Some wife he had. The traffic light showed red, and with an exasperated sigh, he slowed his car down to a halt.

Suddenly his cellphone started to ring. Though he was called the 'Beeper King', he still brought his cellphone everywhere with him. What would a businessman be without his trusty cellphone by his side? He groaned in annoyance, he shifted his body a little, and took his cellphone out from his pocket.

"What?" he growled, holding his cellphone as if he wanted to crush it into tiny pieces.

The caller was a bit startled at the rather hostile response. Building some nerve up, she finally answered him, "Daddy? Is that you?"

"What, Olga?" he replied rather reluctantly. "I'm driving right now."

"Is mommy and Helga with you?"

He wanted to yell at her, but since he always had a soft spot on her, he tried to control his rage and replied, "No, Olga…" he said, rather menacingly on Olga's name, "They're not with me."

"Oh… where could they be?" she said worriedly to herself. "Daddy… I have something important to tell you…"

"Is this about Miriam, Olga?" he barked back, "I don't want to talk about right now."

"No, daddy… this is about Helga. She left me a note saying—"

"What?" he cut her off, "running away?"

"Yes, daddy. Are you going around town to find her?"

"What are you talking about? I'm the one who kicked her out from the house!"

"WHAT!" she exploded incredulously.

"I don't want to talk about it. So be quiet."

"Oh daddy how could you…" she began to sob, saying with a melancholic voice.

"I said _enough_! I don't want to hear another word from you anymore Olga!" And with that he abruptly cut the conversation off and threw his cellphone on the seat next to him.

On the other side of the line, Olga could only heard the engaged tone in disbelief of what her father had done to her baby sister. She slowly put the receiver back on the phone, and slowly she slid down to the floor weakly and started to cry. How could he do this to her sister, she thought. Sure she was a bit of a rebel, anti-social and badly behaved sometimes, but that wasn't an excuse to kick her out from the house. After a bit of sobbing, she tried to pull herself together to collect some thoughts. If her parents didn't want to look for her, then it was up to her to find her beloved sister. She then went back to her room to get ready.

-

Miriam sat on a bench alone alongside with her luggage at the city's main train station, crying and sobbing. People couldn't care less at the miserable sight as they walked by the distraught mother and wife. With crumple of tissues in her hands, she used them to wipe her tears, asking why such fate had befallen to her. She defended Helga from him, she tried to be a good mother, but somehow, she failed. She felt guilty about it. Maybe the decision of running away to her mother's house in South Dakota was foolish on her side, leaving her responsibility as a mother and a wife away. Wife… why did she even married that halfwit, incompetent, selfish man anyway…

She looked around, and saw a phone booth next to her. Maybe with talking with her daughters, they might ease her guilt a little bit. She wiped the tears off, and got up and proceeded towards the booth. She deposited some coins inside, and called Olga's cellphone number. Her cellphone was a gift from Bob that he had given to her upon her graduation from Wellington College. "Olga…" she said hopefully, "will you please answer the phone…"

Her cellphone rang a cheerful tone and vibrated so strongly that it shook the table. Olga quickly dashed out from the bathroom and ran over to her room to answer it. Oh, thank goodness it was her mother…

"Hello, Olga?" she asked brokenly.

"Oh mommy. I'm so glad it's you…" she replied with a relief, as she stroked her wet hair back.

"Listen… Olga. This is a very tough decision that I made, but I'm going to your granny's house for a couple of weeks for a while until this whole thing is over. Is that okay with you?"

"I suppose its okay… I guess…"

Judging from her daughter's tone, it certainly wasn't assuring. "Are you okay, honey? Is Helga there with you? Is she all right?"

"I'm just fine, mommy… but the same can't be said for little sister…"

Her maternal instincts alerted her, "What? What happened to her?" she asked so worriedly, "Is she all right?"

"She…" she didn't know how to break the dreadful news to her.

"What? Speak up, honey. There's a train coming. I can't hear you right."

"She… ran away…" she said softly, almost whispering, but it can't be heard by Miriam.

"What?" she said with a louder tone, "Louder. I can't hear you Olga."

"She ran away from home mommy, and I don't know where she's going!" she finally said, almost yelling, and again, she began to shed tears.

Miriam nearly fainted upon hearing the unbearable news, releasing the receiver from her hand. _"This is all my fault… my fault…" _she thought to herself, as she curl into a fetal position inside the booth, crying. The receiver was dangling from the phone.

"Mommy? Mommy?" Olga tried to talk to her, but the only answer she got back was indistinctive cries of sorrow and sadness from a despaired mother. She didn't want her mother to become like this. It was too much for her to hear her mother in such a state. Slowly, after gaining some thoughts, she said to her mother in a hope that she could listen, "Mommy, I'm going to go out and find Helga. Whatever it takes."

Miriam could hear some optimism coming from Olga. Maybe this was the opportune moment she was searching for to prove to herself and her daughters that she can be a competent mother. With her shaken arms, she grabbed the receiver back and said to her, "Come and pick me up. I'm at the Central Station right now. Just go straight to the main entrance and meet me there. I'll find her with you."

"Okay… I'll see you there." Olga replied back, and ended the conversation. She felt that the weight of the world was suddenly put on her shoulders. She had to mend a broken family, restore her parents' relationship, and a little sister to find. Such a heavy burden for such a young woman to bear. As she was about to leave her room, she remembered that Helga would always go to her best friend's place to vent her frustration out. She went downstairs to the phone and called Phoebe.

"Phoebe, honey?" her mother called from below. "Phone's for you."

"Coming, mother. Ask the caller to hold on for a while." She said, while putting some final touches on her school assignment.

"Could you wait up for while, please? Thanks." Her mother said. After a moment, Phoebe descended down the stairs from her room and went over to the phone.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know, but she sounds pretty distressed." She replied back as she gave her the phone. Her mother then left to the kitchen.

"Hello. May I enquire who is calling?"

"Phoebe. This is Helga's sister, Olga."

Phoebe became troubled and worried all of a sudden. "Yes…?" she replied concernedly as she twirled the phone's cable, "Can I help you?"

"Is Helga there with you?"

Phoebe feared the worst. It couldn't be. It was impossible. Did Helga really do what she just said she would do? "No… well, she was here… but…"

"She was at your house?"

-

_Flashback…_

Helga was stunned, in disbelief, and in horror at what Bob just did to Miriam. He turned around, and saw the shocked Helga staring at him in terror. She couldn't move, she couldn't open her mouth, and she was too scared to do anything. Bob glared back at her in fury. Sternly, he said to her while pointing outside to the stairs, "Get back to your room, _girl._" He said in a rather harsh, threatening tone through his gritting teeth. But Helga still didn't do what she was ordered, as she gazed at her mother, who had her face drowned on the couch, sobbing, that Helga suddenly felt so sorry for her.

Challenged by her daughter's defiance of his authority, he scanned around, and saw a pretty looking ceramic vase on a pretty looking table with pretty looking flowers placed inside it. He snatched and abruptly threw it at Helga. "I SAID GO!" Her survival instinct kicked up, and she snapped back up, successfully dodging the projectile. The vase hit the wall behind her and shattered into a hundred pieces. Miriam cried out loud upon hearing the crash.

"Shut up!" Bob roared with a fit of rage.

Once more, Helga couldn't believe what she just saw. How could her own father did this to her? She realized that Bob was too dangerous to stay with under one roof right now, and so she ran out of the house, bringing her dejectedness and her sorrow along with her. She felt unwanted.

"Fine! Go on! LEAVE! Good riddance! If I ever see you in this house again, I swear I'll kill you!" Bob shouted from inside the house, as Helga ran away as far as he could with her eyes all teary. She needed a shelter. She needed someone to hear her out.

-

Tears dropped to the carpeted floor, making a weak, yet soft thudding sound, as Helga thought of her miserable state. Maybe it was a good decision she made after all, running away from all the lunatics in her house. She sniffed, and wiped the tears off from her eyes. She looked around her surroundings and saw nearly, or roughly half of the seats at the gate were taken, suggesting it wasn't a full flight tonight. She looked to her left, and saw a man reading a political magazine, minding his own business. She then looked to her right, and saw her baggage. Beyond that, there were two women, having a conversation in Spanish, which she couldn't comprehend since she understood little about that particular language. She looked in front of her, and saw a woman holding her baby, trying to make her sleep.

She then thought, she was all alone now.

The airport tannoy jingled a happy tune, and an announcement followed afterwards, "Ladies and Gentlemen, United Airways flight UT2004 to San Jose, Costa Rica is ready for boarding at Gate 17." The female announcer said in a welcoming, friendly voice.

It was her flight. By now, everyone who was waiting got up from their seats and went over to the departure door.

"All passengers are advised to go to Gate 17 immediately for boarding. Please present your boarding pass to the appointed personnel before proceeding to the aircraft. Keep in mind however that all humor regarding airport and airline security will be taken seriously. Thank you for your cooperation, and have a pleasant flight." The airport tannoy once again, jingled a happy, yet catchy tune, indicating that the announcement was finished.

Helga then joined the masses and queued up to wait for her turn. When her turn finally arrived, she gave the personnel her boarding pass, and smiled weakly at him. He replied back a soft smile, and said, "Hi. It's your first time traveling alone, huh?" Helga nodded weakly, and then proceeded into the long walkway, which connected the aircraft and the airport together. At the end of the walkway, she was greeted by two friendly stewardesses, who were somewhat tired and trying hard not to lose their smile. Her seat was in the coach section at the back of the aircraft, next to a window, which she expected to see nothing since it'll be dark outside once the plane got into the air. After saying thanks to the nice steward who helped her put her bags into the luggage compartment, she then took her seat. As she gazed at the view outside, watching the airport staff loading cargo into the belly of the aircraft and performing last minute checkups, she wondered, _"There's no turning back now…"

* * *

_

Hopefully in later chapters I will paint Bob as a more thoughtful, caring husband and father than he is now. It's just not right to always write him as Helga's antagonist. Well, that's that. Hopefully you enjoyed it. 


	3. Journey

_Author's Note: _Gah! I curse my stupidity for not learning Spanish before, because it would've save me the trouble of writing some of the scenes in this fic. So that's why in this chapter you could find the _really _basic Spanish words in it. Hopefuly I got the words right... This is also the longest chapter I've written in this story so far that I want it to be an allegory to Helga's journey: long, yet fulfilling. And like this title's namesake, this chapter covers all about Helga's journey to Arnold's house, since like I said earlier, I wanted the early chapters to be all about her journey. Well, I think I don't have anything to add more, so I think your journey to this chapter begins... now.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 3: Journey

"Ladies and Gentlemen, shortly we will be landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport around 20 minute's time. Local time is about 7:04 AM in the morning and air traffic and wind condition is expected to be mild and calm. Please return to your seat and fasten your seatbelt as we are preparing for our descent. You can ask our cabin crew for help should you need some assistance. Thank you for your cooperation."

At the time of the announcement, Helga was in the lavatory washing her face. She didn't do much whilst she was on the plane, except for sleeping and had eaten some tasteless airline food that they served last night and breakfast they served just now. The in-flight entertainment didn't do much to kill time too as she had watched most of the movie and TV series shown and she sort of dislike videogames.

After she felt refreshed again, she got out and went over to her seat. For a first time aircraft passenger, she didn't act up as much as she expected to be. She didn't catch air sickness and she didn't fuss much about the food, unlike a certain passenger in front of her. As the aircraft descended, she again had that annoying, yet painful feeling in her ears that was similarly developed when the aircraft ascended to the skies. She tried to gulp down some saliva and yawned to remedy it, but it was proven futile. It was one of the major annoyances of air travel, she had thought. Without any choice, she had to bear with it until she got back on the ground.

The landing was a rather bumpy landing, as the sound of the rushing wind and the noise of avionics machinery dominated the aircraft as it zoomed through the runway. After a moment, the aircraft finally slowed down to a gentler speed and proceeded to taxi itself to the main terminal building. The PA system started to crackle a static noise and an announcement from the pilot was followed soon after that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to San Jose, Costa Rica. The present time is around 7:38 AM in the morning and the weather forecasted today is sunny throughout the day with balmy 29° degrees Celsius in average. Please remain seated until the pilot has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and the aircraft has come to a complete stop. You will be advised when it is safe to deplane. It has been a pleasure serving you throughout the flight, and on behalf of the flight crew I would like to wish all of you a good day and thank you for choosing United Airways. This is your captain speaking, signing off."

And thank goodness for that, Helga thought, after being cooped up in a flying steel tube for more than seven hours. She just wanted to get out from the airplane as quickly as possible to stretch her body out to feel active again. And at the waiting area, she stopped and took a long deep breath. It felt so good. Even right now she felt all her troubles were all over, even though it wasn't. She then walked further into the waiting lounge, and put her bags on the empty seats. She then went over the pouch of her bag to check when her next flight would depart. Curses. Her flight to San Lorenzo was set to depart at 1:30PM, which means that she had to stay indoors for about five and a half hours or so from now until her next flight. If only she had booked for an earlier flight, it would've saved her the trouble. Oh, well. First time for everything, and she learned a valuable lesson in spite of it.

Helga looked around, and saw most of the shops were still closed, except for a currency exchange booth. Now what should she do to kill time? She saw a couple of public internet booths located somewhere near a fancy coffee shop. She thought this would be the best time for her to research about this country she wanted to go. She would've use her laptop but she didn't have Bluetooth function enabled. After exchanging some twenty American dollars into Costa Rican Colónes, she then walked over to the booth to use the computer and began her search. A visit to the San Lorenzo official government website didn't help much as they yield information about tourism and information regarding foreign investment.

Helga didn't want all those. She wanted to know what the do's and don't of the country, its background, history and its culture. Still not giving up, she tried another link, and it finally revealed the information that she wanted. It read:

_San Lorenzo is an island nation in the Caribbean located near the vicinity of Puerto Rico. It consisted of five main islands, and the biggest is roughly the size to that of Manhattan Island and the two smallest ones are largely uninhabited. Their capital, the seaside city of Bolivar which is the only city in the county, is located on the largest island, which houses the airport, seaport, main government buildings and their financial institutions. Unfortunately, most of them are being dilapidated as they are consisted only of worn buildings. Their only system of local transportation is a network of dirt roads crisscrossing the main island connecting villages to each other and to the capital city._

And Arnold lived there. Helga rolled her eyes, starting to feel that her plan to run away was a bad idea in the first place. She even began to doubt whether they even had modern plumbing in that country.

_A series of civil war erupted in that nation,_

Helga widened her eyes in horror.

_But ever since the intervention of the United Nations in 1995 the country has rapidly become significantly stable and a new interim government was elected in early 1996._

Helga was extremely relieved right now as she let out a big sigh of relief, even though her heart was still pounding hard.

_The current President of San Lorenzo is Ernesto Monzano, who was a student in Princeton University and graduated from there as a doctor. In late 1996, the country is declared safe for visitors, and investors from all corners of the globe are invited to invest in the country's economy. But despite of the country's ever growing prosperity, the threat of remnants that started the civil war is still intact. Visitors are advised to travel with an authorized guide, such as personnel who is employed by the government of San Lorenzo and the United Nations officers who works there._

Helga started to become scared. Were all these information on this website true? But then again, Arnold had lived there for many years and he never once complained of any attacks or hostilities to his best friend Gerald, whom Arnold frequently wrote letters to him. Maybe it was safe. Maybe the article she read was outdated. Using those as her personal mind shield, she put away all her worries and began to feel optimistic about her trip. She decided that she should visit other websites she frequently visited to keep her mind off the country for a while.

With shops and restaurants started to open, she began to venture there, promising herself that she wouldn't go overboard in shopping, and buy only if necessary. A bookshop just opened its doors and Helga went over there to check whether they had any books about San Lorenzo. She went to the travel section of the bookstore to find it. She heard publications from the Lone Earth productions were the best in helping backpacking travelers such as herself. But to her dismay, she couldn't find any. She then went to the counter to ask whether they had the book she wanted in their stock. To her disappointment, the clerk replied that such book in question had yet to be published. San Lorenzo really was a backwatered place if they hadn't wrote anything about it yet. She walked out from the bookstore, and saw a Burger Emperor restaurant. Better that than the tasteless airline food, she thought and she went there to have breakfast.

Helga contemplated on her next journey as she munched down her food. What should she do after she arrived there? Who should she contact? How would she get to Arnold's place from the airport? All sorts of questions floated in her mind. She had gone this far, she wouldn't stop right now. No matter, The Patakis were always a survivor, and she'll find a way once she got there, she thought to calm herself up. After she took the final bite and slurped her drink empty, she went out from the restaurant and went over to her gate. Along the way, she went to the information kiosk and took a vacation pamphlet that read, _'So You're Vacationing in Costa Rica?'_ written in friendly, brightly colored letters. She might as well prepare herself should she return back to this country for a vacation or something, with Arnold… she daydreamed.

Such picturesque view, Helga thought as she read the pamphlet with pictures of beaches and forests in it. She was now at her gate, waiting for her flight, which was scheduled to depart four hours from now. After reading it, she really didn't know what other activity she could do to kill time, except for one simplest solution, which she was quick to agree with herself:

Sleep.

With one of her bags firmly held in her hands and the other in between her feet, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, in hoping that when she woke up, her baggage was still there with her.

-

_Three hours and forty-five minutes later… _

And thankfully they did, her bags was still there where she had left it. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was perplexed to see only a few people were waiting for the aircraft, and she could count them all with her fingers! She looked through the glass window to inspect what kind of aircraft she would be riding later on. It looked like a small, old turboprop airplane that she estimated could carry about twenty or so passengers in it. She wondered whether that thing could even fly. She also wondered whether she would survive to see the day.

A few minutes later, the airport tannoy jingled a happy tune, and announced in Spanish that Helga's flight was ready to be boarded. The announcement was repeated again in English. And with the other passengers, she went out from the building to the small aircraft, in hoping that it would survive the journey. After she took her seat, she saw the pilot emerged from the door and made his way to the cockpit. Helga wanted to ask a question, so she stopped him for a while.

"Uh… excuse me?"

"_Sí_?" said the pilot back, "I'm pretty busy right now."

"I'm sorry, but I'm wondering how long does it take to San Lorenzo?"

"Four hours, _señorita_." He replied as he showed her four fingers.

"Four?" she exclaimed disbelievingly.

"_Sí, _yes. If you please, I have to get back to work now." He replied back, and went into the cockpit.

"_Oh, great… stuck four hours in another flying steel tube again…" _she thought annoyingly, as she put her elbow on the surface of the food tray and her palm holding her chin up. To entertain herself from boredom, she looked out from the window and saw the propeller started to spin and the airport employees loading some big boxes into the aircraft. Hopefully when she reached San Lorenzo, the plane wouldn't get shot in midair by those rebels that she read on the internet…

-

She was glad to see a big surface of land, after seeing nothing but the ocean from high above the comforts of the aircraft. She was also glad that nobody fired a single shot to that plane. To say that the ride was comfortable was a stretch. The seats were kind of broken and the in-flight food consisted only of some stale tuna sandwich and those little sour orange juice in a cup. San Lorenzo's airport, the only airport in the country, was actually a small worn out airfield. Next to some old aircraft hangars, there were large, white colored United Nations aircrafts parked in rows that most likely were there to send aid and troops to help the country. The aircraft that Helga was on taxied itself to in front of one of the dilapidated airport buildings. She didn't know what to do next, so she just followed the other passengers wherever they might go. They went into a wooden building, and queued before an immigrations counter to check their passports. Helga joined the queue and waited for her turn.

Helga's turn arrived and showed the person in the booth her passport.

"From United States, _señorita?" _the passport checker asked as he flipped the pages. From the tone of his voice, he sounded pretty bored.

"Uh… yes." Helga replied back.

"Business? Pleasure?" he asked again.

"Um… social visit… pleasure, I guess…" Helga replied back. "Say… can I ask you—"

"Information ask that man there." He said as he pointed at the man wearing an army uniform with Helga's passport. He then gave the passport back and said to her, "Welcome to San Lorenzo."

Helga smiled softly back and said thanks to the tall, tanned skin man. She picked her bags up again, and walked to the soldier that the passport checker pointed earlier. As she came closer to that soldier, she noticed a Canadian flag pasted on the right shoulder of his uniform and a flag of the United Nations on the other. He must be one of the peacekeeping troops. She now felt that communications barrier were no longer of her problems for now. She didn't say anything, but gazed blankly at him. The young soldier took notice of the girl and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Helga nodded, "Could you tell me how can I get to…" she rummaged through the pouch of her bag, and took out her address book. She flipped through a few pages and said to him, "Expatriate Village number #3?"

"Oh, sure. You have a family there?" he asked back.

"No…" Helga replied softly. "I—"

"Ah, just forget it." he cut her off and chuckled a bit. "Follow me. Let me carry your bags." He offered as he grabbed one of her bags.

But Helga quickly pulled the bag away and said to him, "Thanks, but I think I can manage them myself." she replied back in defiance. The old Helga Pataki was back again, or maybe she was cranky because she was tired and jet-lagged.

"Okay," he shrugged, "suit yourself." He then walked outside the airport building as Helga followed him from behind. Helga felt the warmth of the sun in the tropical climate. Somehow, it just oozed welcome to her, as the shining light hit her face. It felt so wondrous. She followed the soldier to one of jeep parked in the front, with the Red Cross logo painted on the doors. There was a young nurse inside, with a Red Cross logo on her shoulder.

"Hey there baby." The soldier greeted her flirtingly.

"Jeez, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" the tanned skin, dark haired woman scolded good-naturedly as she got out from the vehicle.

"Aw, you know I like you baby. I couldn't live without you." He said in a suave kinda way.

"Nice try, Romeo." She smiled back, and noticed Helga. "Hey, who's the girl?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, she said she wanted to go to… where was it you're going again?" he asked Helga.

"Expatriate Village number #3." She reiterated.

"Hey, isn't that where Dr. Stella lives?" she asked Helga, and she shrugged, and nodded softly. She was now relieved that she knew she was going into the right direction. The thought of seeing Arnold any time soon was too unbearable for her.

"Dr. Stella?" the soldier asked back.

"I can't remember her last name," she chuckled, "but I really admire her since she discovered three strands of the sleeping disease and at the same time, the cure for them all!"

"Wow, she must be really smart." The soldier replied back.

The nurse smiled back at the solider and then, turned to Helga and said, "C'mon kid, hop in. Put your things at the back." Helga was relieved, and she quickly put her bags on the passenger seats as the nurse started the engine. Helga then climbed into her seat next to the driver. With any luck this journey would be short, she hoped. The nurse and the soldier exchanged some waves, and off they went from the airport. The road was very bumpy since the jeep was driving on a dirt road, passing through a thin jungle. Helga could hear the sounds of crickets chirping and birds tweeting around her. A pair of parrots flew by in front of them, and she was in awe of the beautifulness of the creatures. As they drove on, the nurse asked her some questions to break the ice.

"Man, you're pretty brave to come here all alone. Where're you from?" she asked.

"United States." Helga replied back.

"Oh, cool. I'm from Chicago." She informed. "The name's Salma."

"Helga. I'm from Hillwood."

"Hillwood? Hey, I have an aunt who lives there." She beamed at her.

"So… what're you doing here?"

"What? At the airport? I was—"

"No, no. I mean, what are you doing here in this country."

"Oh. Well… one day the Red Cross sent me a letter asking me to volunteer and stuff and I was kinda feel obligated to answer them, since I never set foot outside of Chicago before. It's a change of wind sort of thing, you'll understand. Not to mention I was pretty much tired of living in that city at that time."

"How do you like this place so far?"

"You'll get homesick in the first couple of weeks, but eventually you'll kick it out and you'll start to see amazing this place is."

Judging from how broken her family was, Helga doubted she'd ever get homesick. She put her thoughts of her family way behind in her mind. Right now, the only thing she could think of was getting to Arnold's place as soon as possible, and judging from the route they were taking, it wouldn't be as quick as she'd imagined it would be.

Salma continued, "I mean, the people are friendly, the food's all right, there's so much to see, and… oh, we're out from the jungle now."

Out from the jungle and into the capital city of Bolivar, San Lorenzo's only city. The place was pretty much just like what it described in the webpage that Helga visited when she was in Costa Rica. The buildings were old, dilapidated and worn out, it lacked modern infrastructure, the streets were chaotic, with peacekeepers patrolling and children running around playing and Selma had to drive slowly so she wouldn't hit any of them, and it was dusty since it was after all a dirt road. Most of the populous were impoverished. Salma and Helga looked at the somber scene in dismay. Salma then said, "These poor people. It's hard to imagine how they managed to survive the civil war…"

Helga suddenly remembered something about the civil war. She wondered whether the information she got from the internet was true. To seek clarification, she asked Salma, "Hey Salma, I've heard there was a civil war going on in this country, but it was over several years ago. Is it true?"

"Pretty much, yeah. But there are still pockets of resistance in the northern area of the island, but they're pretty weak. Peacekeeping forces and the pro-government military men are trying hard to destroy what's left of them. But don't worry much since the place you're going is relatively safe. Hey, if you don't mind I'm asking, why are you going there?"

That question pretty much frightened Helga as she tried to think a suitable answer to reply back. She didn't want to tell her that she traveled thousands of miles just to see a boy who she loved so dearly ever since she was a child that she'd run away from her broken home just to see him and hopefully he'd help her and accept her with open arms. So, she resorted to one answer, "My mom's friend invited me over to stay for a couple of days."

"Who, Stella?" she asked back, and Helga nodded softly.

Salma smiled, and said, "You know, she has a pretty cute son, somewhere around your age." It was something that Helga hadn't expected, but she was glad to hear it. "Hey, you're not… his girlfriend or anything, are you?" Salma asked.

Helga quickly snapped back, "What, heheh? You're kidding, right?" she said nervously, "Of course not! I barely even know the footba— I mean, her son. Eh, heheh…"

"Hey, just asking." She shrugged. The jeep then exited the city and went back into the jungle, but it was much thicker than the last one they were in. A few seconds later, a large truck that carried soldiers zoomed pass them, billowing dust behind it. Salma then said to herself, "Hmm… they must be boosting the security around the Presidential Palace for tonight…"

"What's going to happen to the palace?" Helga asked in curiosity.

"There's going to be a nationwide function at that place. The president invited all his of countrymen and some of the expatriates to show gratitude for helping rebuilding their country or something."

"Nationwide?" Helga raised one of her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Hey, San Lorenzo is a pretty small country. Some 12000 people live in this place."

"Oh…" Helga replied back, and she intentionally averted the conversation. "So… how long until we arrive at the village?" she asked regarding the length of the journey.

"Provided that the road isn't wet and muddy, the weather stays calm and we're not stopping for anything, I'd say we'll be arriving there about around, say… 40 minutes or so."

Helga sighed in agony.

"Hey, cheer up. Why don't you sit back and relax, and enjoy the view while I do all the driving. You might learn a thing or two from the jungle." She said at her beaming. Helga shrugged and slumped back to her seat, as she looked around her surroundings to admire the view. There was nothing but dense foliage and the occasional exotic animals that came across them as they drove by. Birds and small animals that she never saw in a zoo seemed to excite her a bit, and the forest was beautiful and lovely for her to admire. It would warrant a poem if she was in a very good mood that day, Helga had thought. They then came a across a magnificent looking small shallow stream, which was clear as crystal and had Helga given the opportunity, she would swim in it. There was no bridge to cross over it, so Salma drove across it, splashing the water away.

Helga didn't sleep throughout the journey at all, even though she planned to do so before the journey started. She talked a lot with Salma, and she really admired and was in awe of this place that she never took her eyes away from them. It was better than anything and everything that Hillwood had to offer. 45 minutes had passed and they finally arrived at a place that looked like it was built by people. There were some guard towers, a wooden wall with barbwire fence on top of it, and the road was blocked by a guard post, with the United Nations flag raised in front of it. Salma pulled over to the guard post and went out from the vehicle to clarify her presence.

"_Hola_, Luis." She greeted the guard, who was actually a Mexican peacekeeping force, **"You two look _very_ busy today."**

"**Yeah, right." **He replied back, smiling.** "All I did today was playing cards with Eddy over here."** He pointed to a sleeping New Zealander soldier. **"What are you doing here?"**

"**Well, there's this kid who claims that she knows Stella,"** she pointed to Helga who was inside the jeep, **"and she wants to see her."**

"**Strange…"** he said back, stroking his chin. **"Stella never mentioned that she's expecting a visitor. Do you think…"** he narrowed his eyes in alarm, as he looked at Helga. By now, Helga was very nervous, since she didn't know a word of Spanish and she wouldn't know whether they would allow her in.

"**Nah… can't be a rebel sympathizer. She's too young."** Salma replied back. **"And besides, I have a feeling that she's Stella's son's girlfriend…"** she stuck out a smirk at Luis.

"**Hehe. Ah, young love."** He chuckled a bit and smiled at Helga. Helga smiled back even though she didn't know why he smiled at him. A friendly face was always a friendly face, she had thought. **"Ah, why not? It's always nice to see a new face once in a while. She can go in."** he then pushed a button and the gates opened up.

"**Heh, thanks Luis. I owe you one."** Salma smiled at him.

"**You could thank me by going on a date with me."** He smiled back.

"**Keep on dreaming, Luis."** She replied back, beaming. "Okay Helga, this is where you drop off. You're clear to enter the village."

Helga sighed in relief. "Oh, man. Thanks a bunch Salma. I really couldn't have made this far without you."

"Eh, no prob. Just helping a traveler going around." She said as she helped Helga unloading her bags. With her bags back in her possession, Helga said to her, "Will I ever see you again?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "Hey, you take care of yourself, all right?"

"I will." Helga replied back as she smiled, and shook hands with her. It was somewhat a very long handshake, they both thought. Finally they released their hands and Salma went back into her jeep. She started the engine and drove off as she waved at Helga and she did vice versa. After the jeep was out from her view, she went to the guard post to enquire. "So, uh… Luis right?"

"_Sí. _You want to know where Stella's house is, right?_"_

"Yeah." Helga nodded softly.

"Just go up that hill over there and two from the left is her house." He said as he pointed it out. "Oh, before going there could you sign your name in this logbook?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Helga replied, signed her name and went pass the gate. Before climbing that small hill in front of her, she stopped at her tracks for a while and took a very deep breath. _"Well… here goes nothing."_

-

The time was at 6:45PM, and the sun was at the very tip of the horizon, casting a glowing orange hue over the place where a young boy and a teenager were at a wooden veranda, playing chess together. The move that the male teenager made certainly didn't please the boy, and he yelled disapprovingly at him.

"That's not a checkmate, Arnold!"

"Yes it is." Arnold smiled back, smirking. "Just admit that you're a sore loser, kiddo."

"I'm gonna tell mom!" he cried back.

"Pfft. Ooh, I'm so scared now!" he faked a fear. He laughed some more and looked around the place. He saw someone or something behind the hill. He got up from his seat in curiosity to see again what he just saw. The figure moved upwards, and it was a girl. But Arnold still couldn't recognize her. He squint his eyes a bit and put his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight. It looked like someone he knew. Someone he knew well.

Someone who he hadn't seen in years.

Someone who he wrote letters to but never once received a reply from her.

Someone who in the past he had given advice to help her in her troubled times.

Someone who he was glad to see so much after all these years.

Helga.

"Hey, Arnold." the kid said at him, "Who's the _chica_?"

Ignoring the question, Arnold was virtually in disbelief as he saw Helga emerged from the hill. He slowly developed a soft smile and his heart was beginning to pound faster. Imagine that, despite of hearing practically nothing about her after all these years, apart from third party comments from Gerald, she was right in front of his eyes, although was weary, but she managed to gaze warmly at him. He came down from the veranda and went straight to her, almost nearly running. The thought of seeing an old friend from Hillwood brought warmness to his heart. He was glad to see her here. He was very happy to see her. He then stopped in front of her, and after a long, admirable, yet pleasing gaze that they returned to each other, Arnold finally said, "Helga." as he cast a soft smile at her.

* * *

Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuun... 

cough-

The **bolded **dialogue you just read was an English translation from a conversation in Spanish, which will appear a lot later on in future chapters. Wanted to write it in Spanish though so it would sound natural, but since I am ignorant about that language, that have to do for a while. The civil war is a key point in a sub-plot I'm considering about Arnold's parents, and Costa Rica is going to be a topic that will be discussed a lot by Arnold and Helga later. And that kid? Well, you just have to wait. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review. Guess I'll be starting to write the romance part now... eep.


	4. Arrival

_Author's Note: _After some very careful considerations (this decision was hard to make), I've decided that the Spanish dialogues will resume to be translated in English as **bolded** text. However, if there's major plot points in the dialogue I will write them in Spanish. To my readers with Spanish as their native language, I am glad and thankful that you are willing to help. I will email you should I need your assistance. I haven't been to Costa Rica, but after writing about that country in this fic I suddenly develop an interest about it. I made a lot of research, and so far I love what I read. There are some scenes in this chapter that I feel 'not right', but that's just me. It must be those caffiene drinks that I took and my lack of sleep. But don't fret, it won't be weird or whatever. Argh, why am I droning... it must be those caffiene again...

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 4: Arrival

"I can't believe it's _you_!" Arnold exclaimed happily. He wanted to hug her tightly, but knowing Helga Pataki well, he decided not to as he did not want to get punched, slapped, or get kicked in the crotch. "What brings you all the way here?" Arnold asked, still smiling.

"Well…" she really didn't know what to answer him, plus she was quite reluctant to give him an answer, "I was… well… just, you know…" she shrugged.

"Hey, c'mon. The least I could do is to help you with the bags." He said. "Let me carry them for you."

But like the last time when someone offered to carry her bags, she refused, "Hey, easy with the bags, football head." she resisted. Football head, something Arnold hadn't heard in years. He was not offended by it, but was actually happy to hear it. The moniker sparked nostalgia in his mind. He was happy because it was the same old mean Helga, someone he knew very much.

"I can carry them myself." She added, but sounded less angry. Arnold smiled back, as if he could read her characteristics like an open book. He nodded softly, and said, "Okay, you do whatever you want Helga. But please, at least let me carry one bag, I insist. C'mon, let's go inside the house." He invited, "Put your bags inside, and then you can follow me send Marcelo back home. I'm not going to leave you all alone inside the house, you know. You just got here."

"Marcelo?"

Arnold just turned and looked at the little boy who was walking over to them. Marcelo had a curly black hair, green eyes, looked somewhere around nine-years of age and he had to walk with a walking stick. As he came closer, his eyes were set to Helga, warmly. "Marcelo, **this is Helga,** my old friend." Arnold introduced him to Helga.

After a long gaze, he greeted her, "_Hola, _Helga. Nice to meet you."

"Hi, nice to meet you too." Helga replied back warmly, and turned to Arnold, "Where are you taking him?" she asked.

"To his grandma's house. It's a short ten minutes drive from here. C'mon."

-

From inside the jeep, Helga could see Arnold holding Marcelo's hand as he knocked the door of a small village hut. She wondered how Arnold learned to drive. She also wondered who that kid with Arnold was. It couldn't be his brother, since she couldn't find any family resemblance between them. His head were neither football shaped nor he had a big rift on his chin. And considering that Arnold said he was going to send him back to his grandmother's house ruled out every theory she had about Marcelo being Arnold's kid brother. The door opened, and out came an old lady, which she presumed was Marcelo's grandmother. Marcelo smiled widely and hugged his grandmother tightly. His grandmother hugged back, embracing him like what you would except from a loving grandmother. She then said something to Arnold in Spanish, and Arnold replied back, also in Spanish.

As she listened to the conversation, Helga felt that Arnold's proficiency in that language was way off. She could hear him stuttering and saw him gripped his fist, as if he was trying to remember something. She also saw the old lady tried to correct Arnold, as he repeated it back again like a parrot embarrassingly at her. After some heartwarming conversation, Arnold gave the old lady a hug, got kissed on both of his cheeks and walked away as he waved back at them. He jumped into the driver's seat and drove of, leaving the village. Helga could see the old lady and the kid waving at them from the side mirror.

"Did you send that kid back home just because I'm here?" she asked accusingly at him.

"What?" he chuckled, "No, I've made a promise with his grandma that I'll send him back home before seven every time he's here."

Helga nodded, "His English is pretty good."

"Yeah, he's a fast learner." He replied proudly, "I on the other hand, am dumb because I'm still struggling with my Spanish even though I've been here for nearly four years."

"So… who's the kid?" Helga asked. "I have a feeling the word 'sibling' is out of the question."

"Heh, yeah. Marcelo has been coming to my house almost every week without failing. But I treat him like my very own brother. Heck, even my parents have grown attached to him. He even called them his mom and dad. Nice little guy."

"Why is he living with his grandma?"

He paused for a while, and answered, "When he was very little, his real parents were killed… no, _murdered_ during the war." Arnold replied sadly. Judging from his tone, he wouldn't want to speak of it again.

Helga felt bad when she asked that as he stared at Arnold, as he carefully navigated the jeep through the narrow, winding road. He was quite masterful at driving this particular vehicle. To remedy the already glum atmosphere, Helga decided to go to a more casual talk, and asked him, "Where did you learn to drive?"

"From my dad, I don't even have a license right now. But nobody cares around here." He chuckled, "I usually help my dad with the archeological expeditions and carry supplies to the Red Cross camp when a shipment comes. That's mostly what I do around here." They then arrived back at Arnold's place as he honked the guard to ask him to open the gate. Luis gave him a friendly salute and opened the gate. After parking the car they went into Arnold's house, which was a wooden one storey house built on stilts. Didn't look much from the outside, but on the inside it looked just like your modest modern home. The windows were opened wide to let the air in, so it was always breezy inside.

"There's a power generator out back. We ration the use for obvious reasons." Arnold informed as they entered.

The windmill and solar generator was used to power all of the houses inside the village. There were ten houses inside the village and all of them looked similar to each other but had different numbers as to distinguish themselves, and all of the inhabitants were foreigners living in San Lorenzo, working. Back at Arnold's house, he invited Helga to the kitchen where he would serve her some tea, to freshen her up from her long trip. Helga took a seat at a round wooden table as she gazed at Arnold, preparing the tea. He poured some into a cup, and another one into another cup. He then gave one to Helga first and another one for himself. He sat in front of her,while Helga with her arms crossed and elbows on the table, gazed blankly at the steaming cup of tea. After a long moment of silence, Arnold then said:

"How was your trip?"

"Tiring." Helga spoke wearily. "I even took a flight exchange from Costa Rica."

"Man, I hate it when they do that. When I first came here I had to take a stop in Florida." Arnold replied back.

"Wow, that's _very _informative of you. Anything else you want to share?" she said sarcastically. She then realized that she should go easy with the sarcasm and the snide remarks as to not to offend her hosts. Her worst fear that she could get kicked out from the house and she had no place else to go.

But Arnold chuckled back and smiled. "Man Helga, you haven't change one bit."

"Would you prefer that I changed?" she said back, holding the cup of tea.

"No." Arnold replied. "I like it just the way you are." still smiling at her. Helga was glad to hear that, concealing her smile behind that cup she was holding.

"So you've learnt Spanish, huh?" Helga asked.

"Heh, yeah, still learning. I'm terrible at it. You won't survive here if you don't know how to speak it."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, seriously. It's the only way to interact with the locals."

"Heh, if that's the case, I guess I'll need a crash course then. Hey, where's that pet of yours?"

"What, Abner?" he then sighed and replied, "A hunter mistook him for a wild boar, and shot him." he shook his head.

"Man, that's terrible."

"Yeah…"

There was another moment of silence.

"Hey, this tea is great." She praised.

"Yeah, grown in San Lorenzo itself. One of the finest in the world, I might add."

Then there was silence once more, as they sipped their tea.

"Things are pretty quiet around here." She opened yet another conversation. "Where are your parents?"

"They left to the Presidential Palace just before you arrived."

"I heard there's a party or something going on there."

"Oh, you heard? Actually, it's more of a formal function than a party."

"Why aren't you there?"

"Formal ain't my thing." He shrugged, "Besides, I had a feeling that someone might show up today." He smiled, and Helga snickered softly. Arnold continued, "Can't believe it was actually you." He chuckled, "you should've call me or something Helga, let me know you're coming. I would've spruce the place up for your stay here."

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises." And with that she gulped down all what's left in the cup.

"So uh…" he placed his hands on the table, playing with his thumbs, "can I ask what made you decide to come all the way here?" he inquired.

Helga was afraid that he might ask her that. The reason why she distracted him with such silly questions was because she didn't want him to ask her that question. In her heart, she really wanted to let out all her feelings and tell him all the problems she was facing. She wanted him to comfort her. But her logic stated that this was not the right time to do so, and also the fact that she knew that she'll go overboard and would accidentally confess her secrets to him. Oh how she hated that the fact she had come so close, and yet she was still far away from it. As the battle of logic and emotion raged, she slowly turned away from Arnold, not looking at him as she prayed and hoped that Arnold wouldn't stress that question again.

Arnold looked at her, and saw the conflict. Maybe it wasn't the perfect time to ask that, since she was all tired and weary from her trip. He then took some last sips from his tea, and got up from his seat. "You must be tired, Helga. Let me show you your room."

Helga was relieved, and thanked the Almighty as she raised her head upwards and sighed in relief. They then went back to the living room to pick the bags where Helga put them earlier. Arnold then gave a short tour of his house. The living room was your typical living room. "Ugly couches that my mom bought from IKAYUH before we moved here. You won't see anything on TV, since there's nothing on it. Dad use it to watch his expedition videos and I use it to watch movies that grandpa sent to me." He said while pointing to the old television located at the corner near a window. There were some DVD boxes on the TV and Helga could read some of the titles. Her favorite movie was one of them. They went pass the kitchen that they were in earlier, nothing exciting about it.

"Here's mom and dad's room." He pointed to a door leading to a large room. They then went further inside the house. "This used to be the guestroom, but since we, heh, never had any visitors, mom and dad converted it into a computer room slash mini laboratory. Mom uses this room to conduct experiments and stuff while dad uses it to decipher some old manuscripts and contact the museum he's working with. And I use it for home schooling." Next to the computer room slash mini laboratory, was a room where they entered. "This is my room," Arnold said. Helga's expression changed, and he turned to Arnold with an incredulous disbelief look on her face. Yet, she was somehow delighted.

"Your bed, huh?" she asked.

"Well, would you prefer to sleep on the couch?" Arnold asked back, "You're a guest, Helga. My hospitality to you is my absolute concern right now. Besides, this is only temporary. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the computer room ready for you." He said to her as he pondered.

"So, where will you be sleeping tonight?"

"Where else? I'll be sleeping on the couch. Oh and uh, if you want to take a bath or do 'business' or something there's some bushes outside at the back."

"Bushes?" she said in horror.

"Welcome to San Lorenzo, Helga." Arnold smiled back, as he took a book out from a shelf. "Heh, I'm just jesting with ya. Bathroom and the outhouse is out back, but don't worry, they're pretty clean. You'll feel just like home in no time."

"_Outhouse?" _she thought, as she widened her eyes in horror. She really hoped that he was joking again as she stared at him in disbelief. Arnold looked back, and said, "I'm not kidding Helga. There's an outhouse at the back of the house." He smiled, "Just get used to it, like I do. Oh yeah, before you sleep, please close all the windows and switch the mosquito repellant on. Enjoy your stay." And with that, he closed the door for Helga to have her privacy. Arnold then went to the living room and read the book that he brought with him.

What a gentleman, Helga thought. It was one of many merits that she liked about him. Helga was sitting on Arnold's single bed as he looked around his room. His room was surprisingly clean and neat, unlike her room back home. All his books and items were carefully placed on the shelf and his desk was tidy. The only eyesore she felt was his bed, since it was messy, probably because Arnold was too lazy to make his bed up. Messy… she then realized that she hadn't taken a shower ever since she left home. Quickly she rummaged through her bag and took her towel and some clothes out and went to the bathroom outside the house located at the back. It was a rectangular wooden building, which to her surprise was bigger than she imagined. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as she had expected, and she quickly took a shower.

The water was quite refreshing since it came from the mountains, and Helga felt recharged again. She went out from the bathroom and into the house again, only to find Arnold in the room as he put on his nighttime clothes. She could briefly saw his body, and she was kind of attracted to it. Arnold then realized that he was being observed at and he quickly spun around only to see Helga smirking at him. He looked embarrassingly at her and said, "Uh… I'll just head back to the living room…" while pointing to the door, "and uh… I've switch the repellant on and closed the windows for you. You… you call me when you need help, all right?" and he walked off, rather hastily. _"Yeah Arnold... act like stupid nine year old..." _He smacked his forehead._  
_

Helga looked at him smiling. She shook her head and went into the room. Closing the door, she thought now was the time to compensate all her lost energies by sleeping again, even though she felt it was sort of early to sleep. Hopefully tomorrow would be a great day for her.

-

_Later that night…_

"Monzano should've used that money to rebuild his country, not throwing a stupid party." A man, somewhere in his 40's, muttered angrily under his breath to his wife who was sitting next to him. They were both in a jeep, driving through the dense forest on their way back home. The forest was creepy during the night, where spooky noises could be heard and visibility was near impossible even with the spotlight beams on. However, the ambiance didn't scare them since they knew a lot about this place and they recognized almost everything in their path.

"Ah, cheer up, dear. At least he invited all of his countrymen to the banquet." His wife reasoned.

"Oh, come on Stella. How many did you actually see came to that function?" he asked, "That's right: Only us foreigners and a bunch of people who lives around Bolivar!" he answered his own question. "What about those other people who's starving to death, huh? You know, I felt really guilty every time I swallowed the food down my throat." He shook his head. "It felt like I was eating ash."

"Miles," Stella said, "Ernesto told me that if there's still food left, and he knows there will be, he'll send them to every needy village in the country, and everybody will get their share. Don't worry about it."

"But the question is: will that be sufficient enough?"

"They say that the food is catered for 16000 people. That's more than enough."

"Well, that's a start." He scoffed, but he was still angered by the President's decision. "Hopefully he won't make any stupid decisions like that again."

Stella smiled at her husband's remark and said, "Heh, I like it when you're all concerned like that." She said as she stroked his hair, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm driving here!" he replied jokingly, but still was serious nonetheless. Stella chuckled back, and they continued to talk whatever married couples would talk when they were in the car together. After a few minutes the car finally arrived at the front entrance of their home and they quickly got out from it. They were so tired, that even the thought of their bed would make them sleep.

"10 o'clock, lights out. Just like we told him." Miles said proudly, which also perplexed him too since lights weren't usually out at this time of hour. He then looked at one of the house's stilts and sighed, "I thought I asked that boy to put that rake back into the shed…" he muttered quietly to himself.

"What? Are you expecting that he was going to throw a party of his own or something?" Stella asked her husband.

"Honey, he's the only teenager in this place. The worst thing he could do around here is air guitars in his room screaming like a banshee." He replied back, smiling. "Or worse…" he added more, with his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Oh you…" Stella jabbed his shoulder, laughing. "I kinda feel sorry for our son though, with his friends thousands of miles away and all, and he got nothing to do here but to listen to our every whim…" she said as she put the key inside the keyhole.

"Everybody in this country plays a role. And don't forget, honey. He _chose _to live here. It was _his_ decision to stay. Besides, the Red Cross guys, Father Campbell, and Marcelo especially, need him the most. And I for one am glad that he decided to stay here." Then the both of them had a sudden flashback at the time where Arnold wasn't there with them, and they weren't there for Arnold. Each and every time they thought of it, a sense of guilt, remorse, and sorrow always enveloped them. Stella sighed, and said to her husband softly, "Yeah, I'm glad that he decided to stay with us too…" and Miles nodded in agreement. The door then opened and they went in, only to see Arnold sleeping on the couch.

"Did his room caught fire or something?" Miles assumed jokingly to his wife, as they looked at their son quizzically.

"Strange, he usually watches a movie or uses the computer at this time of hour…" Stella then walked over to his son and woke him up.

"Mom…?" Arnold said sleepily, "When did you got back?"

"Just now," she replied back, "why aren't you sleeping in your room?" she asked.

Arnold widened his eyes, and he instantly got up while rubbing his eyes. After gathering some thoughts as his parents looked at him, anticipating for an answer, he said, "We have a visitor."

The answer that Arnold gave pretty much startled his parents as they gazed at each other in disbelief. "What? Who?" His mother asked. Feeling that his son wasn't being sincere and honest, Miles folded his sleeves and said to them, "That's it, I'm going in." in a joke threat kind of way.

"No dad, wait!" Arnold stopped him, "I'm really serious. There's this girl and—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Miles extended his hand, with his palm facing towards Arnold, "Are you saying that there's a girl, inside your bedroom, _sleeping _on your bed right now?" he said disbelievingly.

Arnold just nodded, in hoping that his parents wouldn't freak out about it.

"Whoa-ho!" Miles exclaimed, "Man, Arnold! Mom and I just gone in a couple of hours and already there's a girl on your bed? Good job!" the playful remark didn't seem to humor Stella as he glared at her husband and her son angrily.

"Miles, we're not encouraging this." She said sternly.

"Heh, of course we're not. If he was really doing what I think he was doing, I'd probably beat him up with that rake outside he forgot to put back." He joked again.

"And we're not encouraging that either." She replied harshly, and she looked back at Arnold, "I've got three questions to you, young man." She said while glaring, showing him her three fingers, "Firstly, who is she, second, why didn't you tell us that your friend is coming and thirdly, why didn't you let her sleep in the computer room?"

"Hey, whoa, whoa… hold on a second there. The computer room?" Miles interrupted and protested.

"Oh come on, dear. It's not like your using that room everyday." Stella argued back. "And the room is pretty much safe as long as she doesn't touch the medicine cabinet."

Arnold then resumed and answered, "I don't know mom. She just showed up all of the sudden. And the reason why I couldn't let her stay in the computer room is because it'll take hours just to move all the furniture and equipments to make room for the bed."

"Arnold, I thought I've told you that I hate it when you lie."

"Mom, I'm not joking, I'm serious. I would've informed you if I knew she'd come. And I promise you, by tomorrow morning I'll fix the room up for her." He replied back assuredly, as to reaffirm the mother.

Stella sighed back, although still in doubt, but she accepted it reluctantly, "All right, all right. Make sure you take extra precaution when moving the cabinet and the desk. Well then. Tell us who is she?"

Arnold took a deep breath, and replied, "Okay… Do you guys remember Helga? Back from Hillwood?"

"Helga? As in, Helga Pataki? _Bob's_ kid?" Miles exploded, "Oh, great. What is she doing here?" he asked incredulously.

"She hasn't told me yet dad. I did asked her, but she was too tired and was like, don't wanna talk about it. Mom, dad, please. She's tired, I'm tired, and you guys are tired; so can we please talk about this tomorrow?"

The glare from Stella's face was gone, sighed, and nodded at her son's suggestion. "Yeah, I think it'd be the best. We all need a good rest tonight."

"All right." Miles sighed, wiping his face, "She better have a good explanation about this."

* * *

For those who want clarification, yes, Marcelo is a member of the green-eyed tribe of San Lorenzo. And I will try to elaborate the tribe's history and culture later. Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. Man, I need to sleep. 


	5. Morning

_Author's Note: _You know, there are things far more important than writing a fanfic, namely my future. That's why there's quite a gap between this chapter and the last one. But I assure you, it won't happen again. I'm kinda surprise though, there was never a Hey Arnold fanfic with an Arnold Schwarzenegger joke inside it. I probably missed it or something, or nobody actually had done it before. Whatever. This chapter in particular emphasizes family relationships. I'm not going to go further, because, just like, read it and stuff...

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 5: Morning

It was early in the morning, the sun hadn't rise yet, but Arnold woke up from his bed. This was all a daily routine for him that he had trained himself to wake up early ever since he lived here. Still sleepy, he wondered why he was in the living room as he sat on the couch, looking around. Oh yeah, he forgot that Helga was sleeping in his room. He wiped his face and rubbed his eyes, got up and walked over to the kitchen sink to wash his face to become more alert and refreshed. After stretching out his body and performed some light exercises, he then went to the computer room slash mini laboratory.

From his perspective, there was a desk to his left, with a computer, a table lamp, fax machine, assorted weird biotech devices and a telephone on top of the desk. To his right, various sorts of chemistry sets, substances and chemical materials were placed on a table. And in front of him, there was a window and a cabinet that his mother told earlier to be careful with it. The room itself was small, and the said furniture inside had just enough space to fit the room. And if Arnold wanted his guest to stay inside, he had to put the chemistry sets inside the cabinet, and the cabinet to be pushed to the left next to the computer desk, making one of its doors couldn't be opened. The chemistry desk then needed to be turned and moved and put it at the window next to the cabinet, leaving just enough space for Helga to stay.

After satisfied with his plan that he drew in his mind, he said to himself loudly as he impersonated a certain well-known Californian Governator, "IT'Z TAHM FUR AHNULD TÜ KLEEN HAUS!" he chuckled at his own humor. He then went over to the cabinet and took a pair of rubber gloves from it and wore them. Leaving the cabinet's door wide open, he then walked to the chemistry desk and carefully took one bottle at a time and cautiously put it into the cabinet. He repeated this act again and again until the desk was empty. He then threw the rubber gloves away and closed the cabinet up. He wouldn't worry about Helga sleeping in a room full of chemical substances since the cabinet was designed to be airtight and he used to sleep in this room many times. He then took a rag and wiped the desk. He put the rag away, and he went over to the cabinet and began to push it. Successful with the pushing he then resumed with the desk.

He then went to the storeroom next to the kitchen, took a broom and an inflatable mattress out with him. The inflatable mattress was currently folded and deflated. But first he had to sweep the room first. After he finished sweeping, he spread the deflated mattress out on the floor and performed an arduous process of inflating it back using the convenient manual pump given when they bought that thing. As seen on TV! The whole process took about twenty minutes or so, but in the television said it was easy and it could be done in less than five minutes. They apparently lied, Arnold thought. False advertising! After that, he took some of the couch's cushions and put it on the mattress. This should do for a while to keep his guest happy. All and all, the whole removing, cleaning and pumping took about an hour and a half, and the sun had started to rise. Not a bad job, he thought to himself.

He went out from the computer room only to see his mother brewing the morning coffee. She then took a seat on the round wooden table, waiting for the coffee to be done and stared at her son in front of her, as he looked at her back. Arnold cast a soft smile and said to her:

"I told you I'll have the room done by morning." He then took a seat in front of his mother.

"Amazing. You usually weren't _this_ helpful before." Stella joked, "Is there something you want to prove here?"

"Mom…" he chuckled, "she's only a guest, and I'm doing the best I can to be a good host."

They then went silent, as they got nothing say. But Stella saw could see something. Something deep within Arnold by looking through his eyes, "You know, I saw the exact same thing in those eyes of yours when I met your father for the first time." She said.

He was somewhat freaked, "What? Eye gunk?" he joked. He then wiped one of his eyes with his finger to remove the morning crust, "Oh, my God! You're right mom!"

"Don't be stupid." Stella chuckled, "You know what I mean."

"Oh come on, mom. Please be realistic. She's just an old friend of mine that in someway developed antagonistic feelings towards me." He replied as he flicked the foul thing away, "How else I'd react if I saw a friend of mine who I haven't seen in years suddenly appeared from out of the blue?"

"You know, that is questionable itself. Why did she come all the way here all unexpectedly?"

"Bah, I advise you that you should not produce any supposition, mother." He said in a formal tone to humor his mother, "I'm sure she's here for a foreign exchange program and she's probably doesn't have a place to crash in for today or something."

"Denial, denial." His mother said in a singsong voice, "What else she'd be doing here?"

"You're just assuming mom." Arnold laughed, "She can't be _that_ crazy to come all the way here. Besides, if she really has feelings for me, hypothetically speaking, she would've told me earlier." Stella couldn't believe how exceptionally dense her son was. Must got it from his father, she had thought. Arnold then got up from his seat and he said, "And if you'd excuse me, I'll be leaving this somewhat awkward conversation behind and to my—"

"Room?" she interjected as she looked at her son with a sardonic smile on her face, "Must I remind you there's a guest in your room and it would be inexcusable if you'd just barge in there and invading her privacy?"

Arnold stopped at his tracks, and grumbled as he went back to his seat as Stella continued to smile snidely at his son. "Are you going to lecture me about her again, ma'am?"

"Nope." She replied, "I want to talk about you, and your responsibilities for today. A reminder for you before you start your day today Arnold, there's a shipment full of medical supplies coming at the airport right now and I need you to take them and bring them to Red Cross Camp South—"

"You mean your camp?"

"Yes, _my_ camp, and to Father Campbell's place. I want that medicine to arrive at the camp before ten o'clock sharp, okay? It's very, very important that I have my hands on that thing as soon as possible. I have a patient who's coming down with a case of malaria and she needs that medicine badly."

"But what about Helga? I can't just leave her here all alone."

"Well, you said you wanted to be a good host, so why don't you give her the tour of the country after you've done with your errands? You can ask Eduardo for a map and directions."

The coffee machine then made a noise and there was a light blinking from the 'Done' indicator.

"Coffee?" Stella asked, smiling.

-

_Meanwhile, thousands of miles away…_

After spending two nights at a motel, Bob then decided to come back home that morning, in hoping that the mess in his house with his wife and daughter would clear up by its own. He drove in front of his house, and he could see the light inside the living room was still on. It surprised him since usually the people inside his household would still be asleep at this hour. Maybe the girl forgot to switch it off, he thought bitterly. He then pulled the car into the garage and shut it off. Taking a deep breath, he then ventured in the house and into the living room, only to be greeted by the glare of his wife and the frown of his eldest daughter.

"You callous, insensitive, incompetent man!" his wife shouted angrily at him as she walked over to him. "Our daughter has run away and what did you do? Fueling yourself with booze!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" he sneered, "don't you _ever_ accuse me like that, Miriam!" he pointed at her with his stiffed index finger. "Don't you forget you're the one who—"

"OH!" she exclaimed disbelievingly, "so it's my fault then? What about you, you big oaf? You're the one who put her into the cold!"

"Shut up!" he roared, "Don't you see how inexplicably rude and disobedient that girl was? If only she were at least half as good as Olga—"

"Don't you dare play favorites!" his wife retorted back, "Regardless what she behaves, Helga's still our daughter, Bob! Don't you even care about her? Don't you even give a thought in that little brain of yours that she's somewhere out there alone struggling to survive when you decided to throw her out?"

"I will not be made—"

"You see this?" she pointed to her face. Miriam was very tired, weary, her hair was scruffy, and her eyes were all bloodshot, "I've been up all night with Olga searching for her! And how come I don't see you even lift a finger?"

"Shut up…" he grumbled.

"Oh yeah… that's right. How could I forget? Because you're the one who KICKED HER OUT FROM THE HOUSE!"

"I SAID _SHUT UP_!" by now Bob had his hand high in the air, ready to strike her down. Miriam braced for the worst.

"Daddy, STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Olga shouted pleadingly, begging for her father to end it. Bob halted his hand as he looked back at his daughter with his glare and his clenched teeth. Miriam was shedding tears as she looked uneasily at her husband, with her left arm over her face as to block him to strike her. Time stopped all of the sudden in the Pataki household, as no noise was heard, everybody was holding their breath, and nothing moved. It was all static. Bob's stiffed and trembling palm slowly turned into a clenched fist, and he took it away far from Miriam. Just looking at Olga made his heart gone soft, as he wouldn't want to upset his daughter. Olga was looking at his father uneasily, as she did not know what his next move would be next.

Yet, her heart was burning in anger and dismay of her so called father trying to do to her mother. Maybe this was the Bob Pataki that Helga told her about. Selfish, callous and cruel. Bob could see Olga's disappointment by looking at her eyes. Those piercing brown eyes. She was crying, all because of him. Bob scoffed softly, left the living room and went upstairs. Olga quickly went over to her mother and tried to comfort her.

"I'll be okay. I'll be okay." Miriam said as she lifted her glasses and wiped her tears away. Holding her mother's hand with one of her hand and the other she put on her shoulder, Olga brought Miriam to the nearest couch and sat on it. Olga quickly grabbed a box of tissue and she tried to wipe her mother's tears away as she gazed at her in worrisome sadness.

"I… I can't do this Olga." Miriam spoke weakly, "Not with that _husband_ of mine here…" the word 'husband' was spoken venomously.

"Mommy… I know these are hard times… I…" Olga tried to be optimistic, "I… I'll try help as much as I can… help you, daddy and find Helga…"

Her mother sobbed, "Thanks honey… I'm sorry if I—"

Suddenly they both heard footsteps coming to them. They looked at the entrance of the living room, and saw a shadow. Miriam and Olga held their hands together, clinging tightly. Olga edged closer to her mother, comforting her as they embraced together, giving each other strength. There was Bob, but the look of his face changed. He had a melancholy, yet sort of guilt look on him. To the shock of them both, his eyes were all misty, as if he wanted to cry. He came forward slowly to them, as Miriam and Olga stared at him in disbelief, yet they were cautious about him. Bob stood in front of them, looking at his wife and daughter with his remorseful eyes. He suddenly kneeled down, and grabbed both of his wife's hands.

"I'm so sorry… Miriam…" he pleaded for forgiveness, "I'm so… sorry…" a trail of tear ran down from his eye as he look deeply into Miriam. Miriam never saw Bob behaving like this before. It also baffled Olga too as she looked at his father, acting all weirdly like that. Still having no response from Miriam, Bob drowned his face onto his wife's lap, sobbing. Touched by the display of emotion, Miriam slowly took her trembling hand away from Olga and slowly put it on the back of Bob's head, caressing it. She then brought her hand to his chin, and gently lifted his head and brought their eyes to face one another. Then there was silence as they looked at each other with forgiveness, regretful and love.

They kiss.

They hug one another, embracing each other tightly.

"I'm sorry Miriam… I didn't know what came over me… I was—" he said sobbing, holding her wife tightly.

"Didn't I tell you to go to those anger management classes, you idiot?" a moment of humor from Miriam, and they laughed softly.

Olga wiped the tears of delight and happiness away from her eyes as she looked at her parents with a smile on her face. Not interrupting the mood, she slowly got up and left the living room.

"Hey, hey, hey. And just where do you think you're going, missy?" Bob said, "We still have Helga to find."

-

_San Lorenzo…_

"Has she waked up yet?" Miles said as he read the _La Isla, _the only newspaper in circulation in the country. Arnold's family was in the kitchen sitting at the breakfast table, eating breakfast that Stella had prepared from them, with a little help from Arnold of course. Stella's cooking could be described as abysmal to put it mildly, so that was why Arnold helped her a lot by putting some other ingredients in the cooking without her knowing to make them better. It was all encouraged by his father.

"Dad, she'll be here when she wakes up." Arnold said to his father.

"She better be." He grumbled.

Noticing the unpleasant tone from his father, Arnold quickly replied, "Dad, Helga is _not_ Bob Pataki. I know you and Bob had some differences in the past but please don't take it out on her."

"I'm not saying that, Arnold. It's just…" Miles didn't know how to put the correct words, "_Bob…_" he said irately through his clenched teeth.

"Dad, please…"

Miles rolled his eyes, and continued reading the newspaper. Among the headlines in the paper were **'_New 4-Star Hotel opens soon: Generating employment'_**_,** 'UN promises more peacekeepers'** _and **_'Yesterday's Presidential banquet a success'_** but of course, they were written in Spanish. The last headline made Miles scoffed, as he knew that banquet was a huge failure since only a small amount of people went there yesterday. That was what you get for reading a very pro-government, rightwing media, he had thought. "Yeah, right… _success_." He muttered, and he folded the paper and put it on the table. _"Why can't they just tell the truth?"_

As Stella occupied herself with the stove, Arnold set the table and Miles poured some orange juice in the glass, they could hear a door opened, coming from Arnold's room. That must be Helga, finally woke up from sleep, they thought.

"Okay guys, _please_ don't freak her out with your questions, I beg of you, especially you dad." Arnold said to his parents as he had his palms touching each other together to plea to them, "Pretty please?" he gave them a nervous grin.

"You know she'll have to tell us why she's here sooner or later eventually." Miles replied, looking at Arnold with an eyebrow lowered. Helga finally arrived at the kitchen, only to see a wholesome, friendly, yet somewhat creepy grin from them. She stared at them quizzically for a moment and greeted, "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. –"

Arnold sneezed unexpectedly.

She continued as she looked at Arnold with a disgusted look, "…and Arnold." With any luck the family would receive her with welcoming arms, she hoped.

"Hungry, Helga?" Stella asked, "Want some pancakes?"

"Trust me you don't want 'em." Arnold said with a smile, "Ow. Mom…" Stella threw him an oven mitt, and hit his head. Stella giggled softly, and Miles chuckled behind the paper. Arnold looked at his mother and shook his head as he smiled back. He then grabbed the mitten on the floor and put it back on the table. To Helga, Arnold's family was wholesome, perhaps too wholesome, she had thought. Probably because they were separated for so long that they became close to each other, that it strengthened their bond rather than broke them apart. It was something that her family would never be. She envied him so much for having such a great family, rather than her dysfunctional one. If only her father wasn't such a blowhard or her mother was a – no, no. She must put the thoughts of her family behind. She didn't want to think about them, even the slightest.

"So Helga, what say you?" Stella asked again.

"Yeah, thanks." Helga cast a smile at her, stroking her messy morning hair back. Thankfully, Arnold's family was an accepting lot. Arnold pulled a chair next to him and offered her a seat. Delighted, and yet somewhat reluctant, she proceeded to take the seat he offered to her. Stella put the pancakes onto the plate and served them to her. Helga could only look at the half-burnt breakfast in shock. She wondered just how many cute kitties were sacrificed in making of this breakfast. Arnold went closer to her and whispered, "Told ya."

"So, Helga…" Miles said, "How was your trip yesterday? Was the flight okay?" Arnold frowned at his dad.

"Uh… yeah." Helga replied as she poked some of the char away. "I had a wonderful flight." Her answer was the complete opposite that she gave to Arnold yesterday, but Arnold kept quiet about it.

"Do you have any plans planned for today?" Stella asked as she took a seat.

"Well, no… actually I…" She replied uncertain sounding like, "Yeah, I got nothing." She shrugged.

"Well, Arnold had a great idea that he told to me earlier." Stella replied, "Go ahead Arnold, tell her."

"What? It wasn't my id—", he paused as Stella gave him 'the look'. "Yeah, I'm planning to give you a tour around the country." He replied, nodding nervously, "Would you like that?"

Good, Helga thought. The more she was away from the house, the more Arnold's parents wouldn't bug her on why she was here. Plus, she would have Arnold all by herself. Still, she had her doubt though, as she could accidentally blabber about her troubles and her secrets to him that she felt was too early and too soon to reveal to him. Better take her chances with Arnold rather than his parents, since she knew the blonde teenager well. "Yeah, I would like that." She replied finally, "I really would like to see the country."

"A'right." Arnold said, "We'll move out after you've showered and everything."

Miles took a glance at his wristwatch and said, "Well, I'd better get going. There's a major dig going on today and I don't want Eduardo to have all the fun. See you guys later."

"Ed is at the excavation site?" Arnold asked.

"Yep. He's going to supervise it."

"Convenient." Arnold replied, "It shouldn't be that far from Father Campbell's place. After I sent the medicines to him, I can go straight to the dig site and ask him for the map." He said to Helga.

"Hey, don't look at me you dolt." Helga said as she looked at him quizzically, "It's not like I know anything about this place."

"Well, in a couple of minutes you soon will be." Arnold replied back, grinning.

"God, stop grinning like that you creep. You're weirding me out."

* * *

Wow... I made Bob cry. I don't think he's out of character though. I mean, it's creepy to see a tough guy like Bob to cry and all, but even when a guy is facing the toughest period in his life, he'd too break down crying. Settle for a divorce you ask? Oh come on. That's boring, it's the easy way out. Where's the drama, man? 'Sides, it's tad cliche. I mean, I'd _love _to see Bob cry begging for forgiveness from his wife rather than him shouting at her at every opportunity given. The tables have turn! That should be the last about Bob and Miriam, since I don't want it to disrupt the flow of the story and it to steal the light from Arnold and Helga.Anyway, I like to introduce new things on every chapter, like in this one, we get to first time hear Miles' dislike for Bob. It will be elaborated further in later chapters. Eduardo will make his debut on the next chapter, and this character I created, Father Campbell will have to do something with Arnold's parents. Until then, thanks for reading, and please leave a review. 


	6. Tour

_Author's Note: _I feel obligated to put some references to 'Parents Day', 'The Journal' and the never released movie 'The Jungle Movie' since the aforementioned episodes mentions San Lorenzo. It was told that Arnold won some sort of competition or something (essay contest? Can anyone clarify this?) and he brings all of his classmates to San Lorenzo, and eventually he meet up with his parents. That's how the story goes, if my memory serves me right. About the story being slow, well, I feel it too, but it's just to build the momentum up before the real romance starts. Stella and Helga's talk is inevitable as hinted in this chapter, so don't worry about it. This is the longest chapter yet, so I hope you're satisfied. :)

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 6: Tour

Miles closed the house door behind him, and took a deep breath. He was very uneasy about Helga being here in this country. Maybe it was because of his deep detestation for Bob, or it could be he couldn't stop thinking why she came here by herself all alone without informing them. And why did his son defending her? This didn't feel right, and something deep within told him that there was something wrong. He shook his head trying to shrug those thoughts off, and went to his jeep parked next to Arnold's. As soon as he got into the vehicle and closed the door, his wife came out from the house and shouted:

"Miles, wait!"

He waited for his wife to come over to him, as he wore his shades and winded the mirror down. "Yes, honey?"

She sighed softly, "Don't forget to say thanks to Eduardo for the volunteers. The camp really need some help."

"Yeah, I will." There was a momentary silence between them as Miles noticed there was something more that Stella wanted to talk to him as he looked at her, "Is there something bothering you? Something on your mind? Because I think you want to say more than just thanks…"

"Yeah…" she gave in, sighing," It's about Arnold's friend."

"Argh, don't get me started about her." he snapped, "Arnold knows something about her, and he won't tell us. Worse still, I think the both of them are keeping secrets from us. Something is wrong. I can feel it." He shook his head, looking at his wife accusingly.

"Miles, please don't assume…"

"You think she ran away from home?"

"Miles! God!" Stella yelled, "She couldn't… she wouldn't!"

"Then why hasn't she told us why she's here?" Miles asked again. Stella couldn't answer him, and the only reply she gave to him was a scoff and headshake. Her husband then said, "You know what'll happen if she actually ran away from home? Bob will go ballistic and he'll start to accuse Arnold _and_ us for bringing her here! And knowing him, he isn't the reasonable lot! He'll go to the court if he had to!"

"All right, all right." Stella sighed in defeat, "But, we still have to try to explain it to the Patakis about the situation here. Hopefully Bob still has some common sense."

"For all of our sakes, let's hope so. Then we know what we have to do." Miles said. "Whether she ran away or not; by now, they must be worried sick about her. We have to call Bob and Miriam and say that she's here with us safe and sound, and this was all a misunderstanding."

"Ah, darn it Miles." She said through her teeth as she rubbed her forehead, "I forgot that we don't havetheir phone number. And I don't think that Helga will cooperate with us. Even if we asked her, she'd probably lie to us and make up some stupid excuse on why she won't give us her number."

"What about Arnold?"

"Don't you remember? He's in it with her together."

Miles shook his head, sighed as he placed his hand on his forehead, thinking, "Which means we can't do anything now."

"Yeah…" she replied, "Yet, we can't just sit around and do nothing. There's must be something we can do, but we can't just force her to tell us that she ran away from home."

"Why not?" He asked back, "We have the right to do so. Until she returns back to her parents, we're unofficially her guardians now."

"We can't. If we forced her to tell us, she'll become suspicious and distrustful to stay with us and most likely she'll run away again. We don't want her to wonder around aimlessly in this country. God only knows what would happen to her if the rebels managed to kidnap her…"

Miles exhaled loudly, "Good point."

"We'll think of something else. We'll try to make her to tell us with some other way. Right now, she's virtually trapped in this country since the next plane to the mainland will leave on this Sunday. We have all the time we need. _And_ until that day, we can't send her back. Come to think of it, I'll be leaving for Geneva on that day too."

"Well, what do you propose? We can't let her stay still in the house all day. And Arnold can't keep her company all the time since he has lots…" suddenly Miles had a brilliant idea. "Hey, why don't we let her volunteer? Obviously your sick camp needs more help, and I could need more extra hand at the excavation site."

Stella snapped her fingers, "Or she could help Father Campbell at the orphanage!"

"Great, now she has three places to choose from. At the end of the day, we'll ask her where she wants to work at. This country needs all the help it could need."

"Yeah," she nodded softly, "hopefully this place will teach her the true meaning of hardship."

"Hopefully. Honey, want me to drop you off at the camp?" Miles offered.

"Nah, I'll wait for my van to arrive." She then gave Miles a soft peck on the lips, "Have a nice day at work."

"Yeah. You too." He then started the engine, backed the vehicle up and drove away to the excavation site. Stella waved her hand at Miles.

"God, this brings _so _many of my bad teen memories…" Stella said to herself as she rubbed her forehead as though she wanted to heal her headache.

---

"When'll your van arrive, mom?" Arnold said as he tied his shoelaces up.

"Anytime now. Make sure you go to the airport first and pick the medicine up." She replied back.

"Don't worry about it, they'll be in good hands." He then turned to Helga, "Ready to go?"

She could feel the excitement. Just herself and Arnold for the whole day. It was something she had dreamed ever since the first day she started to love him. She could barely contain her exhilaration. Still, she tried to do so as she did not want Arnold to look at her all weirdly and suspect something. Her schoolgirl-like giddiness was locked up tight in her heart, and she tried to calm herself up, took a deep breath and said to Arnold, "Let's roll." nonchalantly.

The both of them walked out from the house and to Arnold's jeep, which was a four wheel drive vehicle that looked like in one those outdoor adventures commercial, but it was beaten-up, and it showed signs of overuse. Some parts of the doors, hood, lights and windows were covered in dried mud and the windshield was cracked. At the passenger's seats, all sorts of old papers and documents were scattered on them, traces of old food crump here and there, dirt and mud covered the floor because Arnold didn't bother to clean them up. Arnold used to be such a neat freak before, Helga thought to herself. As much as Helga disliked riding that jeep which she developed when Arnold sent Marcelo back to his grandmother, she forced herself to bear with it. The time that she will spend with Arnold was all that matters to her right now.

Arnold started the engine and drove out away from the village. As he navigating the rocking jeep through the dirt road, he asked his passenger, "Hey Helga, do you mind if we take a quick detour to the airport? My mom asked me to get some boxes of medicine for the Red Cross camp before we—"

She shrugged, "Yeah, fine, sure. I mean, you do a lot of that here, don't you?"

"Cool." Arnold smiled at her. Suddenly, one of the wheels accidentally ran over a big rock, causing the jeep to jump up and swerved a bit, making Arnold and Helga shouted in fright.

"God, Arnold! Put your eyes on the road, not on _me_!" she shouted in panic, as she held her heart with her hand and breathing out heavily. "I thought you learned how to drive!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Arnold said also panicky, "I have everything under control now." He was gripping the steering wheel tightly with his shaking hands. And he was right, everything went calm now, he had it under control. "See? Told ya." He smiled at her.

"For the second and last time, Arnold: Your eyes on the road, _not_ me." She glared at him, as she pointed her finger to the front. Arnold grinned sheepishly and embarrassedly and said, "Oh… yeah. Sorry."

"Someday you will be the death of me, you idiot with a freak of nature for a head…" she muttered angrily yet quietly under her breath as she had her arm crossed.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing…" she replied nonchalantly. Arnold rolled his eyes and he tried to forget the whole thing. There was a brief silence between them, as Arnold concentrated on the road, whilst Helga admired the view outside the jeep. It was beautiful, virtually untouched by human hands. It was something like heaven on earth. It was a perfect refuge to escape from every single problem that confined in her mind. It soothed and calmed her.

"Close the window, Helga. We're going to cross over a stream." Arnold said to her as he shifted the gear. It was the same stream that Helga and Salma went across when she first came here. Helga nodded, and winded the window up. Water splashed on the window and washed some of the dry mud away, leaving the vehicle a little bit cleaner than before. Though the new surroundings excited Helga, it was nothing new for Arnold since he felt it was all same old, same old for him. Bored, he switched on the radio, and a song in Spanish was played.

"_Well, aren't you a mood killer Arnold…"_ Helga thought bitterly as she glared at him.

"BBCi San Lorenzo." Arnold said, "It's the only source of entertainment broadcasting from this country. The other one is Radio Free San Lorenzo, but mostly it airs propaganda and junk."

Helga still glared at him.

"You… want me to switch it off?"

Helga still glared, but a smile developed on her face.

"Okay…" he switched it off. Then there was more silence between them. Arnold tried to start a conversation. "You know that stream that we just pass by?"

"Yeah, what about it?" she seemed to be interested in this one.

"It's one of the water sources that'll eventually merge with five others to form into one big river that the locals call the _El Río De la Serpiente_."

"Which means…?"

"The Serpent River or something like that. They have an awesome waterfall somewhere in the middle of it. Heck, it's even better than Niagara."

Helga chuckled softly, "really?"

"Yeah, after we get the map and all, I'm going to drive you there so you could see it for yourself!" he replied enthusiastically. "My dad told me that he and mom plunged from that waterfall once."

Helga raised an eyebrow in shock, "And they _survived_?"

"Yeah, thanks to the Green Eyed People. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here talking with you right now."

"_Or me wouldn't have somebody to fall in love with…"_

---

"Helga, could you please open the door trunk for me? This box is mighty heavy." Arnold shouted at Helga who was inside the jeep. She pulled the small lever at the driver's seat and the door opened. She then went outside and asked Arnold, "You need any help?"

"What?"

Helga repeated it again loudly, "You need any help?" they were both at the airport tarmac right now, as the sound of the rushing wind and aircraft taking off drowned their voices down and made them indistinct.

"Yeah! Help me carry these boxes into the jeep. Careful, they're very fragile!"

"What?" she shouted.

"I said: they're very fragile!" Arnold and Helga helped one another lifting the medicine boxes from the trolley into the jeep. There were seven boxes to be delivered: five to Stella's Red Cross camp, and two to Father Campbell's place. Arnold earlier had labeled six of the boxes by writing 'RC' and one by 'FC' respectively. After they finished lifting all those boxes, Helga closed the door up and Arnold returned the trolley back to one of the airport employees. After saying thanks that man, Arnold quickly ran back into the jeep and restarted the engine.

"God, those boxes are pretty heavy. What's inside?"

Arnold shifted the gear and replied, "Medicine and stuff." And he drove away from the tarmac and to the security checkpoint.

"Wow, thank you for stating the brutally obvious, Captain Obvious." She said sarcastically, "I mean, what _kind _of medicines are inside those boxes?"

"Well, in future reference, please be specific with your questions then," Arnold replied coolly, "Cholera, malaria, dengue, measles, typhus, smallpox, sombra and some food bars and canned foods to feed the malnourish kids. Also some immunization for people who are fortunate enough be healthy." The security closed the trunk door and flashed a thumbs-up sign at Arnold. He then waved back and drove back on the road again. Judging from the list of disease that Arnold said to her, Helga felt she was lucky to live in a country where medicines were readily available and could be treated easily.

"What's a sombra?"

"The infamous San Lorenzo sleeping disease, named after the hated anti-government rebel and smuggler. The Red Cross ordered it by the bulk. I'm… sad to say that the disease took the lives of lots of people in such a short period of time." He replied melancholically. Helga was stunned.

"Is the endemic situation really that bad here?" she asked concernedly.

"As bad as you can imagine." Arnold answered softly with a trail of unease. "But… the country has changed a lot from the previous years, thankfully. Foods and medicines are coming more and more often and things are generally improving for the better after the period of war. The government is planning to turn this country into some sort resort island or something, like our government did for Hawaii. See over there?" he pointed to his left. There was a dirt road leading to an almost complete building, "They're building a Hilton hotel there. In turn, they'll give employment to the local people and generate other businesses in the country. They badly need jobs to keep the economy growing and improve their living conditions, which I'm sorry to say: extremely bad."

"Hilton, huh?" Helga said, nodding softly, "Hopefully that blonde bimbo idiot won't open a nightclub here or something." She joked to lighten up the previously bleak conversation. Arnold and Helga both chuckled.

"Heh, and Rhonda would be glad the next time she stays here in this country." Arnold said, "Remember the time when the whole class went on a trip here, and Rhonda—"

"Yeah, yeah." Helga cut him off, "Don't get me started on that whiny rich prep." She then imitated Rhonda with a whiny voice, "_But Mr. Simmons, I don't wanna sleep on the ground! There could be bugs and scorpions and insects and stuff crawling on them! Can't we just go to the nearest hotel?_ BAH! I swear, every time when I remembered that I always had this incredible urge to punch her in the face!"

Arnold snickered at Helga dead-on imitation, "Well, the hotel is opening next month, so I think she won't have a reason to whine now."

"Ha! You wish. I guarantee you; she'll find another good reason to whine."

"Heh. I've been wondering Helga: how come you are so negative about her?"

"Negative? Hey, she's been like that _all_ the time! You should've seen her at school, Arnold! God, I don't even know _how_ Nadine managed to put up with her all these years. It's… incredible." Then there was silence between them. They both thought that this conversation that they were having was incredible itself. They never traded jokes or having such an enthusiastic talk with each other before. It was surreal, and yet, pleasing.

"Hey Arnold…"

"Yes Helga?"

"When we're at your mom's camp, will I get to see the sick people there?"

Arnold looked at her quizzically with an eyebrow lowered.

"I mean, just… if I could be of any help and stuff…" she elaborated.

"You will."

---

"Right on the dot." Stella said, smiling.

"Told ya I'll have the medicines in time." Arnold said, climbing out from the jeep.

"Well? The medicines aren't going to deliver themselves into the camp, you know." Stella said teasingly. "Put them near the nurses' desks."

"As thy wish, my empress." He said imitating Darth Vader as he placed a hand on his heart and bowed down. He turned to Helga, "Helga, could you lend me a hand?"

Helga nodded as she opened the trunk door. She took one of the boxes labeled 'RC' and went to the place as instructed by Arnold's mother. To get to one of the nurses' desks she had to go across a tented ward full of sick people. She walked slowly as some of the patients - young and old looked at her with a glimmer of hope and relief in their eyes that the medicines had finally arrived after waiting for so long. Some of them cast a smile at Helga, as it was the only way they could show her a sign of gratitude. Slowly she put the box on the ground and turned around to see the whole place. The tent was about as large as PS 118's auditorium, it was crudely built, and had plywood for the floor. Some of the patients were lying sick on their bed, attended by nurses and doctors, setting a very bleak, morbid and somber mood in it. The medicine that she and Arnold brought would finally relief them from their illness. It was a ray of hope.

"Helga?" Arnold said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, facing him. Her eyes were all misty. Arnold was a bit startled, he took a deep breath, and responded, "That's why we're here, to help them. C'mon, let's go unload the boxes."

The final box was delivered by Helga, but before she left the tent she wanted to look around, to see a view she would never see in her hometown. She saw a patient - an old lady making a hand gesture to ask her to come over to her. Building some strength, she walked over to the old lady. She stared down at her, as the old lady smiled softly back. She offered Helga a seat.

"Where the heck is Helga?" Arnold said to himself in the car as he waited for her and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

The old lady put her hand on the bed, as though she implied Helga to put her hand on hers. The old lady wrapped her hand around Helga's, and with her other hand she caressed the hand she was holding.

The old lady blinked softly, and a tear rolled down from her eyes, "Thank you child. Thank you very much." She said kindly in gratitude. It startled Helga because the old lady spoke in English. Helga nodded softly, and replied, "Y-You're welcome."

"Helga," Stella said as she went into the tent, "Arnold is ready to go and—" she stopped saying as soon as she saw Helga and the old lady.

"You better go, child." The old lady said with a smile. Somehow, Helga was reluctant to let her hands go off her. But she finally did, and slowly got off from her seat, had her head lowered in thought and went pass Stella.

Helga suddenly stopped at her tracks, turned around and said, "Um… Mrs. —"

"AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" one of the patients suddenly screamed loudly in pain.

"**Didn't you learn anything from medical school?** _¡Idiota!_" a doctor scolded one of the nurses and grabbed the needle from her. **"_This_ is how an injection is performed!"**

"AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"

"Is she… Is she's going to be fine?" she asked worriedly.

"Well, the medicines are here, so don't worry about her. You have my promise." Stella said assuredly.

---

"So… who is this Father Campbell we're going to?" Helga asked. She and Arnold were on their way to their next destination.

"He leads a missionary group from Scotland. He has been in this country as long as my parents do. With some other sisters and nuns, they run an orphanage and a small school here. Marcelo learns his English mostly from there."

"Ah." Helga replied, "Anything else I should know?"

"He said that one of his grandniece lives in Hillwood."

"Campfire Lass?"

Arnold laughed, "Yeah, that's what I thought when I heard it for the first time. So her accent isn't fake after all, it's just so happens she fused it with the American accent. Wait a minute, people still calling her Campfire Lass?"

"Are you kidding, she'd be caught dead if someone mentioned her with that name. Most of us called her CL nowadays."

"Why's that? Abbreviated from Campfire Lass?"

"No, some said it's her initials. Are there anything else about him?"

"Yeah, I owe him my gratitude."

"Why?"

"He saved my parents from getting killed."

---

"Akh! Arnold me boy! So nice to finally see ye!" Father Campbell greeted him happily in his thick Scottish accent. They gave each other a hug.

"The vaccination that you wanted is with me, Father. They're at the back of the jeep."

"Aye! Aye! Good job, lad. Now let's just see—" he noticed Helga inside the car, "hey, who's the lassie, eh? Ya been picking up girls lately, haven't ya?"

"Oh… ah, heh." He stuttered nervously, smiling. "Uh… Father Campbell, this is my friend, Helga. She just arrived here yesterday. Helga, Father Campbell."

"Aye, how ye do, lass?" he smiled at her, and Helga smiled back, "Not much of a conversationalist, are ye?" he said playfully. "Akh, let me see the vaccines."

"Could you pass me the box cutter Helga? It's inside the glove compartment." Helga then opened the compartment in front of her, only to see it stuffed with various amount of papers inside it. After rummaging through it, she finally found it under the deepest pile of papers and gave it to Arnold. Father Campbell opened up the trunk and Arnold grabbed the box and sliced it open. Father Campbell seemed to be pleased about the contents inside it.

"Aye, good, good. It has everything that I ordered. Would ye like to come in Arnold? I'll let you have some time with Marcelo if ya want to."

"Ah, no thanks Father." He refused politely. "You see, I promised Helga that I'd give her the tour around the country. It's nearly noon, and I haven't—"

"Hey, Arnold." Helga suddenly interjected. "Just go and see that kid. He'll be pleased just to see you showing up."

Arnold nodded, smiling at her. "Ye want to come with us, lass?" Father suggested, "Just to take the tour around the place."

"I'd love to." She replied. And with that she got out from the jeep and went over to the schoolhouse being accompanied by Father Campbell as Arnold went to a different location to send the vaccines. From a window, Helga could see a nun teaching math to a large group of children, about forty of them, sitting on the floor in a cramped space. Somehow she felt the place was understaffed and they needed some help. The schoolhouse suddenly reminded her of her sister Olga, who had told her many times she would love to teach children if she couldn't land an acting job.

"_Heh, Olga would have a great time here…"_

---

"And we're going to…"

Arnold connected her sentence, "to my dad's excavation site to pick up the map, not far from we are now." And they continued along, as Helga again occupied herself with the view while Arnold drove the jeep. As they went pass by trees, boulders and whatnot, a new view emerged from the horizon. Some of the trees blocked them from seeing it, but it was very clear to them it was a volcano. "Oh my God, just look at it." he said as he pointed to the volcano.

"Hey, it's a volcano. Man, this island has everything. A waterfall, a volcano… The only thing missing is an evil supervillain lair. What's it called?"

"Cabrakan, based on one of the Mayan gods. There's a temple on the base of the volcano, which my parents said I was born there."

"Whoa, really? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Yeah, they even said that the volcano instantaneously stopped erupting when I was born. But I think their story is a fabricated, exaggerated stuff they made to make me feel special or something. I always thought it was all a coincidence."

---

"Helga, this is a family friend of ours, Eduardo." Arnold introduced him. Eduardo lifted his hat a bit and bowed his head slightly to show courteous. _"Eduardo, ella es Helga."_

They shook each other's hand and exchanged "hi," to one another. "Eduardo, can I have a map of the island? I want to show the country around to my friend here."

"Well, what kind of map do you want? I have my old one, or the tourist map that I designed for the government."

"I don't know. I just want something simple and have lots of info on it."

"Then you need the tourist map, my young friend. It's at the back inside of my tent. Look for it on the table." He pointed to his tent at the edge of the jungle.

"Thanks. Come on, Helga." They then excused themselves from Eduardo and walked over to the mentioned small tent.

"How long have you guys known that guy?" Helga asked Arnold.

"Dad knew him when they were in college. He's the one who actually persuaded my dad to come over to this country and study the ancient civilization here. After the war he becomes the Secretary of Tourism and Antiquities."

Helga stopped at her tracks in stunned silence, "You mean… we just—"

"Yep," Arnold smiled, continuing to walk, "We just talked to a major VIP."

Arnold then went into his camp and took a map on the table as Helga waited outside. She was impressed by the ancient building complexes that stood around the area. It suddenly sparked her interest about this old civilization. She wanted to take a look around.

"Hey, Arnold."

"Yeah?" he replied as he came over to her.

"Who… built these things?"

"The Green Eyed People. The buildings have similarities with the Mayans because they were from the mainland itself."

"So why are they here?"

Arnold began to walk as Helga followed her. He gave her a tour around the ancient complex as he gave a summary about the history of the Green Eyed people, "About 500 years before the Mayan civilization finally came to an end, these Mayan priests were exiled from their homeland because the ruler thought their new methods of worshipping were heretical and blasphemous according to their custom and tradition. The exiles also had to bring their family and their followers along so they wouldn't get killed by the fundamentalist. So they sailed here, and built their own civilization from the ground up. Things were great and all, but then one day the volcano erupted, wiping out all of the traces of their civilization. There were few who survived, but the rest were obliterated. Marcelo is a descendant from one of the survivors."

"Whoa…" she said in disbelief, "An entire civilization wiped out by a volcano explosion? Sounds like Pompeii to me."

"Well, it's similar, but the eruption only destroyed the city, not the Roman Empire as a whole."

From a distance near an excavation site, Eduardo and Miles stood together near it. Amidst the sound of chiseling and shoveling, they had their eyes on something else. It wasn't the dig site they were watching, but the teenagers not far from them.

"How come this is all very familiar to me, Ed?" Miles asked, sighing.

"My friend, at least he doesn't guess what the clouds shaped like or fall down from a slope." He replied back teasingly.

"Oh yeah… that." He said embarrassedly, "Man, this so déjà vu…"

---

"Why are we stopping here?" Helga asked as she got out from the jeep.

"According to the map, there's a vantage point on top of this hill where you could see the whole of San Lorenzo from there. See?" He pointed to a group of people carrying large backpacks behind them, "There are already tourists coming to this place."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"According to the map that Eduardo gave me, there's should be a shortcut located just…" he pointed to some bushes, "right… there." He then pointed to a somewhat concealed pathway.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked back worriedly, "It doesn't look very shortcut-ish."

"Hey, trust me on this. Eduardo really knows what he's doing."

---

_Three hours later…_

"This is _some_ shortcut _footballhead_! Just admit we're officially lost in this jungle!" she shouted angrily at him. Right now, she and Arnold were very tired from hiking through the forest. Arnold panicked, but he kept his cool and tried to be optimistic. The last thing he would do was to succumb to their fate and admit defeat.

"Just… just calm down, will you Helga?" he said nervously, "I'll bring us to the main trail back, so don't worry about it." They then eventually arrived at a crossroad where a sign that was written both in Spanish and English said to the left for the peak while to the right for back to the base. The path they were walking on was labeled with 'Do Not Enter'. Arnold grinned embarrassedly at Helga as she glared at him back with her trademark scowl.

"Just give me the stupid map Arnoldo," she snatched the map from him, "and follow my lead!" She stomped upwards on the pathway as Arnold followed her from behind. "God! Who authorized that Ed guy to make this stupid map anyway? I'm _so_ going to punch Eduardo for this! This place has to be worth it Arnold, or else I'll—" she stopped at her tracks. She and Arnold finally reached the summit. She was speechless; she couldn't even begin to describe how magnificent this place was.

"It's beautiful…"

* * *

I don't know whether this chapter lives up to your anticipation or not, but hopefully it'll just make you happy. Next chapter is all about Arnold and Helga, and hopefully it will be updated soon. How's the Spanish? I hope it isn't laughable or something... You don't like it, just leave a review. You like it, leave a review too. Found an error or errors? Again, please leave a review. Why am I repeating myself? 


	7. Together

_Author's Note: _Hey guys, nothing to say much, but I guess this is what are all of you are waiting for: the chapter where Arnold and Helga begins to get close with each other. Hope you like it.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 7: Together

The view was breathtakingly spectacular. From the top of the hill, they could see the whole of San Lorenzo's largest island and the other four that surrounds it. Almost all islands were covered in jungle with some rocky mountains and hills poked out of the landscape. The sapphire blue ocean was clear and sparkling under the brightly shining sun, and the clouds were scattered far and between, showing no sign of bad weather anywhere. And due to that, they could see as far as to the horizon, and saw the earth's curve. It was like paradise, it was a perfect day on the Caribbean.

The wind was blowing softly as Arnold and Helga could feel the gentle caress of the soft breeze. They felt refreshed after the long hike to the top of the hill. The flora felt the wind too as they let them be blown by it. Butterflies gently float adrift amongst the flowers and bees were buzzing around. Parrots squawked and lovebirds were chirping on the trees as though they were welcoming their human visitors. The soft grass that Arnold and Helga were on made them felt like as though they were walking on air. Helga was glad that she was here. She was all alone with Arnold right now, together.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Arnold said softly as he gazed at the horizon. Helga was lost on words, so she responded with a gentle nod. Arnold walked towards a cliff as Helga followed him from behind. He then pointed a finger toward to the horizon in front of them.

"Over there is South America." He said, and then turned around, "And over there is Cuba, and beyond that is our country, the United States," he then pointed his finger ever so slightly to the left, "And there's our hometown." Arnold then placed both of his hands inside of his pants' pockets. "Man, I sure miss that place…"

But Helga didn't. With a sad look, she turned around and faced South America. She gazed blankly at the horizon, and sat down on the ground, with her hands hugging her legs. Arnold was quizzical at her reaction, and decided to find the problem out. He sat next to her, with his legs crossed. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Helga replied softly, "It's just… my family and all—"

"Hey, come on. It's okay to be homesick." He replied, unaware of Helga's problems, "When I first came here, I miss my grandparents too, but, you know… sooner or later you'll start to like this place."

Helga let out a breath, and decided it would be pointless if she'd carry this conversation onwards. It wasn't the right time to tell him. She replied, "You like this place so much, don't you?"

Arnold snickered softly, "Kinda… sorta. Well yeah, I am. I'm pretty much like my parents now: I'm in love with this country so much, that it'd be hard for me if I leave this place behind. I don't think I'm ever going to leave."

Helga was worried with the given answer, "But… you'll have to leave this country someday, right? With college and all…"

"Yeah… that's probably the only time I'll be leaving this country. I haven't made plans on which college I might go, but I'm thinking of going back to Hillwood eventually, if I ever were given the opportunity."

Helga was relieved, "Heh, that rathole of all places?" she replied jokingly.

"Hey, that rathole is where we were raised, Helga." Arnold replied smiling, "Our family and friends are there. Despite of all the flaws, imperfection and the idiotic bureaucrats, it's still our hometown you know."

"I don't know," Helga said, "A lot of things have pretty much changed since you left to the point it's not very desirable anymore. Maybe it was just me. So, you're planning to study back home, huh? Which college?"

"I don't know. I'd just be thankful if I ever got a place there, so I could stay with my grandparents again. Not to mention, the city holds a lot of nostalgia for me."

"If you don't mind I'm asking, what kind of course you'll be taking, if you managed to get a place and all?"

"Well, if you must know, hopefully I'll be taking journalism."

Stunned silence suddenly enveloped Helga. She tried to keep a straight face, but then her lips began to broaden, her eyes began to widen, and she started to snicker softly, trying to hide it from Arnold. But alas, the snicker became louder and louder, and she finally burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, holding her stomach.

"Come on… what's so funny?" Arnold replied embarrassedly.

"OH… HAHAHAHA! Man, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she giggled and laughed, "I thought I just heard you saying you wanted to take journalism…"

Arnold then replied, "Well, I did—" and once again, Helga laughed hysterically.

"Oh… it's so funny it hurts…" she banged the ground with her fist.

Arnold hung his head in shame, smiled softly and replied, "Well, I guess you're not very supportive of my plans for the future." He said as he got up, and took a few steps forwards to the edge of the cliff, "I knew this was a waste! I'm going to commit suicide now!" he loudly said jokingly as he placed the back of his palm on his forehead, acting dramatically, "Oh goodbye cruel world!" he lifted a leg but Helga yanked it back, forcing Arnold to fall back where he sat on earlier. The both had a good laugh.

"Okay, okay…" she still laughed, "I'll be serious now." She chuckled a bit, wiping a tear away. "Why journalism?"

"What, you think I can't write? Don't you remember? It was because of my essay that brought all of you guys to this country when we were in fourth grade thank you very much!" he replied, smiling.

"Pssh, come on!" she scoffed, "That was because of sheer luck Arnold! I read that essay you wrote, and suffice to say, it _sucked_ hard." She gave him a smirk.

"Ah, I sense jealousy from you. What's a matter Helga? _Intimidated?_" he said back playfully, "I know your writings are the best in school and I'm far from the greatest, but at least I tried my best, and surprisingly, I won and got the best prize ever: a reunion with my parents."

"_Parents…" _the thought of her parents struck hard in her heart. She suddenly frowned a bit, and quickly changed the conversation, "So… why journalism? Why not something else? You've always said to us you wanted to be an archeologist just like your dad."

"Well, dad _used_ to be an archeologist, but he's more of an anthropologist now. I don't know, I used to want to become an archeologist, but when I came here, after witnessing the deplorable conditions that the people of San Lorenzo are suffering, I decided to change my mind. Dad might've helped them by discovering their roots back, but I want to do something different. Maybe by becoming a journalist, I could tell the world the difficulties and hardship that the people of this country are facing."

"That's pretty noble of you."

"Thanks, but I don't think that I'm doing enough to warrant that. I just want to reveal this place to the world so they'd become more aware of their surroundings rather than confined to their own world, oblivious to other's hardship and suffering. That's the problem nowadays. And I don't think the mainstream media isn't doing much to help them. That's why I have no interest to become an anchorperson or a correspondent."

"Huh, why? Aren't they also in the journalism category?"

"They are, but when you see in the news, it's not the people who suffer _before_, _during_ and _after_ the war they are reporting, but the progress of the war and such. Even if there was a story about them, it's not very balanced. I'll be focusing mostly about the humanitarian crisis the country is facing, you know: tell stories about poverty, starvation, famine, war trauma, forced labor, and all that stuff. Something along the lines of an immersion journalism. Hopefully with some exposure, people will lend a hand in helping this country. San Lorenzo is, after all, not a very recognizable place you know. It's just my way to give a helping hand."

"Arnold…" she gazed at his eyes, "I have no idea you were that compassionate." Helga said admiringly, "I know you're helpful before, but… whoa…"

"Thanks," he smiled, "You're gonna laughed at this: In preparation of telling this country to the world, I've already wrote an article draft that I'm going to send to International Geographic about this country."

Helga did indeed laugh, "_You_ wrote an entire article? I'm _so_ going to read it, just for laughs!"

"Well, I'm in need of a reviewer that'll be brutally honest with me, since my parents were never really being honest about it. But I couldn't find any good reviewers. Then suddenly," he said dramatically, "Helga Pataki came along, and I thought, 'Hey, Helga's here. She hates me, so surely she'll be honest about it!'"

"_Hate? Oh, you are so wrongly misled my love…"_

"Well then. I guess that this Helga Pataki character will read the writings of a certain football headed individual and will be extremely honest about this poor fool's writings!" Helga replied back, smiling broadly.

Arnold snickered, amused and pleased at her response, "Thanks, Helga. I owe you one. So… What about you, Helga? what are your plans for the future?"

Helga was taken aback a bit, "Wha? Me? Nah, you won't be interested…" she jabbed his shoulder.

"Oh come on. I already told mine. What's so wrong about trading a little bit? I gave mine, you give yours."

"Well… okay." She replied reluctantly, after much thought, "But I swear to God, you football-for-a-head, if you tell even a single soul about this, I'm going to—"

"I know, I know." Arnold interjected, "you're going to use my tongue and strangle me with it." He already knew her threats so much that he practically memorized each and every one of them.

"Actually, I was thinking of beating you up with this stick to a bloody pulp," she showed him a large stick that she was holding, "and shoving you down this cliff. But the method that you suggest is satisfying nonetheless." She joked, smirking. Arnold gave back a nervous laugh, "Okay, here goes…" she said after taking a deep breath, "I've always wanted to be writer."

"Heh. Somehow, I expected that from you."

"That, or the first female president of the United States." She joked, "So I could randomly declare war on other countries. Wait a minute… you expected that answer from me? God… am I _that_ predicable?"

"Nah… it was just a hunch." Arnold said back jokingly, "Ah, it's pretty much obvious Helga. Everybody knows that you're the best writer in school!"

"You're still living in the past Arnold. I _was _the best writer in school. But in high school, everything changed. Phoebe took the throne away from me." She replied in modesty, "Not that's a bad thing or anything, mind you. I rather have her took it than some other moron in school."

"Well, I haven't read Phoebe's writings yet, so to me, you're still the best." Arnold replied warmly, smiling.

Helga began to blush, smiling back, "OH MY GOD, I'M _SO_ CHARMED BY YOU NOW!" she shot back with a teasing tone, which tone was just one of her methods to conceal her real response from him. She executed it perfectly.

But Arnold just laughed softly, as he knew that she would give an answer something similar to that. He wasn't offended by it, but rather, he was amused by it. He thought that Helga had a great sense of humor because of all her sarcastic replies that she gave to him. "So… do you have any writing fields that interest you? Novel? Poetry? Literature?"

"I'm always partial to poetry, but lately I've done some writing. Well, not writing a book per se, but you get the picture."

"Chick lit, I would presume." He laughed a bit.

"What? You think that just because I'm a girl I'm going to write those ridiculous, off the wall, melodramatic junk?"

"Well…" he shrugged nervously, "Uh… so you're going towards sci-fi or something? Comedy? Or a social commentary?"

"Heck no." she exclaimed, "Those genres doesn't interest me." There was a pause, "Well… there are some half-truths about your comment earlier, about the chick lit thing, but I try not to be so overly sappy in my writings."

"Heh… you know what's weird of about these?" Arnold asked her.

"What's that?" Helga asked back.

"We both share a common interest – writing." And Arnold was right. Helga couldn't believe that he was right. She was stunned at his remark because before this, they never share anything that was common between them. Arnold was content fellow whereas Helga was an angry girl. He was an optimistic while she was a pessimistic, although not _that_ pessimistic. And Arnold liked to help people, whereas Helga liked to punch and threatened people. But after that one small comment, it seemed that the whole world had changed and turned upside-down. Maybe there were more things that they share interests together.

She let out a soft breath, "Oh wow… a strange coincidence, how utterly bizarre…" she replied as if she were in denial. "So…" she tried to open another topic, "How long have you been here?" she wanted to know more about his past few years staying in this country.

"Four years or so." Arnold replied back, "I miss the gang, though. Gerald, especially."

"Don't worry your ugly little head about Gerald." Helga replied back, taking the opportunity to mock him some more, "He's doing well for himself, well, ever since Phoebe becomes his girlfriend and all."

Arnold chuckled softly, "Yeah, he told me about it in his letter. He can't stop writing about her. Kinda makes me envy him, though."

"Heh, that's Gerald for you." Helga said back, smiling. "I don't know about Sid, though. He could really use your help."

Arnold narrowed his eyes in worried alarm, "What? Is there something wrong with him?"

"He got into a trouble with the law a few weeks back, but his dad bailed him out. Nadine and Stinky was freakin' worried when they heard about it."

"Man…" Arnold sighed disbelievingly, "How are Nadine and Stinky?"

"They're still all right though, nothing much changed about them ever since you left."

"What about the others? Harold, Sheena, Brainy…"

"What? Gerald didn't fill you out about them?"

"He did, but I'd rather hear it in person. So how are they?"

"Harold's, well… annoying as ever. Still, he's an okay guy, though. He joined the school's wrestling team and all and then, become huskier and no longer a lumpy sack of meat like he used to. I can't say much about Sheena though since we never really know each other that well. As for Brainy…" she smiled a bit, with a joyful look on her face.

"What? What's with Brainy?"

"I think I'd rather keep it inside my mind." She smirked. Arnold rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Say… all the talk about the gang back home, I've been wondering: don't you ever make friends here?" Helga asked.

"Well, I have some… but most of them moved out from the country unfortunately."

"I see." Helga replied. Hopefully Arnold would give her an input about that he was without a girlfriend right now.

"Most of my friends now are those UN soldiers. I'm their poker buddy." He chuckled a bit, "But before that, there's this local guy who volunteered at my mom's camp, but he left a year ago to pursue medicine in Argentina."

Helga nodded.

"A Puerto Rican girl called Isabel followed her mother here. Her mom wanted to find her brother who's gone missing in this country over the few years. My parents offered to help, and I got acquainted with her. Nice girl. After they found her mom's brother, they then went back home along with him. Isabel and I send letters back and forth sometimes."

"You guys…"

"Nah, just friends." he replied back nonchalantly. Helga was relieved to hear that.

"There's this Salma chick—"

"Wait a minute… Salma? Y-You… know her?"

"You know Salma?" Arnold replied in shock surprise.

"She's that Red Cross nurse right? Yeah, I know her. She was the one who sent me to your home shortly after my arrival."

"Yeah. That's her all right." Arnold nodded, smiling. Apparently, his fondness for older woman still hadn't eluded him after these past years. But he knew that a girl like her would in no way be interested in a kid like him, he had always thought. Helga suddenly developed a jealousy over Salma, after seeing that broad, unsightly smile on Arnold's face.

"And then there's Katrina… she's Dutch. Heh," he scoffed softly, "I'm glad that things don't go as she planned…"

This bit of information sparked Helga's curiosity about this girl Arnold mentioned. Though she knew that Arnold sounded like he wasn't fond of her, it wouldn't be wrong if Helga wanted to know more about this Katrina girl.

"Dutch? As in, American-Dutch?" Helga asked.

"Nah. As in, Dutch-Dutch, from The Netherlands. Her father is stationed here about five months ago to help his company to build an oilrig."

"An oilrig? There's oil in this country?"

"Oil was found just a couple of weeks before the United Nations came to intervene the civil war, which leads to several criticism and theories that the United Nations responded only after several countries lobbied them to put a stop to it so they could drill oil here. I'm one of the supporters of the theory."

"You're a conspiracy-theory believer? Come on, you're smarter than this. Has it actually been confirmed that it's true?"

"Well, it is a popular belief amongst the expatriates in this country, you know. It's kinda sick considering that they'd only send people here just to fulfill other countries' greed." He sighed, "Anyhow, why would I be complaining anyway? The country is stabilized after they arrived, and if there were more companies coming to this country then there'd be more jobs for the locals."

Helga felt she had enough and was uncomfortable with this conversation, "Err… coming back to Katrina…"

"Oh, yeah… yeah, Katrina. You see, her dad was transferred here by Shell to assist building an oilrig just about three miles away from that shoreline." He pointed the specific shore to Helga, "Could you see a blackish dot on the horizon? Squint your eyes a bit."

Helga squint her eyes and placed her hand over it to prevent the light from blinding her. She could see a rectangular black speck somewhere along the horizon. "Yeah, I can see it."

"He brought Katrina along with him because he feel that his daughter is a little bit, well… spoiled." He said, "Maybe by introducing her to a new place, with no conveniences and seeing the suffering of these people, she could be thankful just to have all the things that she have now."

"Heh, she got owned by her dad." Helga chuckled.

"Yeah, she told me that hated her dad for bringing her here. And… unfortunately, she never sees the world through the eyes of these people. She becomes xenophobic and confined herself in the house for so long just waiting for the next plane to arrive. Then I showed up, regrettably." He scoffed a bit.

"How did you meet her?"

"I was sending these chemicals stuff to a neighbor of hers when all of the sudden she came out from the house and saw me. We got acquainted soon after that. She even extended her stay here because of… well, me. But I didn't meet her much because I have so much to do."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, we were still in a relationship, and then she complained because I hardly ever meet her. So, I asked her to help and such, she was like, reluctantly agreed. But she never enjoyed her work though, since she's a bigoted idiot and all stuff."

"Man, some people…" Helga sighed.

"Yeah… then she left the country a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't heard from her since."

Helga's heart is ecstatic to hear that Arnold was thankfully, available. "Is that your motley crew?"

"Yep, that's it." Arnold replied with a smile.

"Quite a life you have here." She said sardonically, playfully mocking him. Still, meeting people from different corners of the globe and helping others was very interesting enough for her, Helga had thought. Suddenly, the both of them heard chirping and fluttering noises. They turned around, only to see two lovebirds chasing each other in midair. They turned and evaded each other, doing some impressive maneuvers as they frolic happily under the brilliant sun. Then both of them landed on a tree branch, in pairs together. They softly rubbed each other's head in adoration and fondness as they chirped melodically, as if they were singing together. Arnold just smiled, amused by the pair of birds' antics. Helga on the other hand, thought this was some sort of a vision foretelling her relationship with Arnold in the future. With a soft sigh, she gazed admirably at the birds.

"Hey, Helga."

"Yes, Arnold?"

"You… want to stay here for a while?"

Helga lowered her eyebrow as she looked at him with a suspicious smile.

"Uh… I mean, uh…" he stuttered. "We just got here and all and—"

"Yeah, the view is pretty. I don't mind staying for a while and admire it. 'Sides we don't have anything to do after this, right"?

"Well, you do want to review my piece, don't you?" He smiled.

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right." She chuckled softly. Under the basking sun, Arnold and Helga sat next to each other together, looking towards the horizon, and saw nothing but the clean blue sky and clear, sapphire blue ocean. For the most part, this was a pleasing moment for them, while the other part told them this was awkward for them, since traditionally the one of them would suddenly shouted an insulting remark at the other. But there wasn't any, and there was just silence, as the both of them drifted in their own thoughts. Whether they had noticed or not, Helga had rested her head on Arnold's shoulder.

Arnold felt his left shoulder was particularly heavy, so he turned to it only to see Helga's head on it. She immediately darted her head back and scowled, "WHAT?" and clenched her fist.

* * *

I did have some thoughts about removing the last line since it killed the romance, but... what the heck, I'd better just leave it there. About the more "political" (hehe) statements in this chapter, please don't take it _too _seriously, after all, it is a good-natured humor rather than an attack or a satire. If I wanted to attack, I'd write a five page article about it. The world doesn't work that way, I'm not ignorant about it. Man, I'm _so _gonna receive flaks about this... Well, I guess that's that, hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review, or a rant. 


	8. Evening

_Author's Note: _Eighth chapter is up after nearly a month in limbo. Not because of author's block or laziness, but I want to give this thing a rest for a while and as I want to write my other fics in production. But don't worry, this story will continue on until it's finished, provided people are still interested in this thing.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 8: Evening

After the eventful time that they had at the top of the hill, they decided to go back down and continue with the tour. They descended down using the tourist track this time rather than the unknown track plotted by Eduardo. As they walked down, they continued to talk with each other, mostly about their goals, ambitions and wishes, their social life, the world around them, the beautiful scenery and even trivial matters. They felt that they bonded, although both sides were at their usual antics, Arnold being dense as ever and Helga with her usual scowling self. They never realized that they both share the same common interest until now and it seemed that they developed a new sense of intimacy between them.

Arnold had promised Helga they he'd take her to the famous waterfall where his parents nearly fell to their doom, and since this was the last leg of the trip, he decided to bring her there. Again, he drove through the dense jungle of San Lorenzo. Helga simply couldn't get enough of this place. She too, like Arnold when he was here for the first time, began to love this place. The jeep entered a clear and Arnold drove onto a grass field and parked in front of some small huts. The huts were just some small shops selling trinkets and souvenirs for the tourists who came over to view to the waterfall. To get to the waterfall, they had to walk through a jungle trail. After a short walk, they encountered a small village, populated by the Green-Eyed people.

"Don't be scared, they're friendly." Arnold said to calm Helga, since he noticed that she was walking ever closer to him, almost causing him to trip and fall down.

Most of the huts were made out of wood, and the roofs were woven with straws. The inhabitants weren't surprised to see a couple of foreigners walking through their village, since they were familiar with them since the waterfall was open to the public. As they walked through the village, people gave them a friendly smile, and Arnold and Helga smiled back, to show solidarity. They were walking in front of a patch of land that served as a soccer field for the children, when all of a sudden:

"_Hermano Arnold!_" one of the kids shouted and pointed at him, and they all ran up to him.

"**Hey, guys." **Arnold greeted, **"Having fun playing?"**

"**Yeah,"** One of the kids replied. The eleven year boy then looked at Helga, and looked at Arnold back, **"but not as fun as you were having!"**, and resounding, teasing "OOOOOOOOHHHH!" roared from them. Except for Helga, who just smiled, they all laughed. She thought they were making fun of her or something. Arnold will pay for this treachery.

"**Oh come on guys, she's not my girlfriend or anything."** Arnold replied back, blushing.

"**Does it even matter?"** another kid said back, and the children laughed out loud.

"**All right, all right, enough already."** He replied back, already reddened from embarrassment. He felt that he hit the low since he got owned by a bunch of kids, **"Jeez, where'd you learn all this? Hey, did you guys get the food that Papa Monzano gave to you?" **

"**We sure did!"** a little girl replied happily. **"My little brother is very healthy now he has eaten!"**

"**Great!"** Arnold replied back with a smile, **"Well, I should be going then. I'm showing my friend here the waterfall. See you guys later."** He waved at them.

"**Yeah, don't have _too_ much fun there with the** **chica!"** they all laughed.

Arnold snickered a bit at their remark and said, "Bye!" as he waved and walked again along with Helga, leaving the children behind. The kids waved back and collectively they replied "Bye!" back and ran to the field to play soccer again. As they walked, Arnold snickered at what the kids just said to them, with much to Helga's chagrin.

"Are you still laughing at that stupid joke those kids made?" She asked accusingly.

"Well, yeah…" he replied, still snickering.

"Care to share with me what's so funny about it?" she asked.

"Ahh… it's nothing." Arnold lied, smiling, "It's something only people who lives in San Lorenzo would understand."

Helga wasn't satisfied with the given answer, since she knew that he was keeping something from her, judging from the stupid look from his face, "You're lucky I don't understand Spanish, _Footballhead._" She muttered to herself, "So, how do you know those kids?"

"Their parents were the first Green-Eyed people to be rediscovered by my parents. Quite accidental, actually. Remember when I told you my parents survived the fall? They were the ones who saved them because they built some nets in the middle of the waterfall for safety precaution."

"Ah…"

Moments later, they could hear rumbling noises coming not far from them. They hastened their pace and finally they saw a body of water in front of them flowing rapidly to the right. They walked further and they finally got out of the jungle. They then followed the river flow and from the distance, they could see a small hill at the edge of the waterfall. They climbed up, and finally they could see a spectacular, panoramic view of the raging waterfall. Helga thought it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The waterfall was curved like a crescent and at the bottom, water mist and a rainbow could be seen by them. It was one of nature's finest architectural works.

"Awesome view, isn't it?" Arnold said proudly.

"Yeah…" Helga agreed, "Too bad I didn't bring my camera."

"Well, we could get back home and take mine and come back here…" he suggested playfully. Helga seemed to be amused by it.

"Heh, I'm not _that_ desperate to take a picture of this place."

"Tell you what," Arnold said, "I promise to bring you back to this place before the end of your trip so we can take pictures here. How's that?"

Though Helga didn't know when she would be leaving this country since she didn't make any plans prior to leaving for it, she just nodded and said back to Arnold, "It's a deal."

Arnold smiled happily and with Helga, gazed at the panoramic view. Although Arnold had been staying in this country for a long time, he now just realized it for the first time how truly wonderful this place was. As a poet and writer, Helga could see this place as her new muse. It would be wonderful though, if she would stay at this place and live with Arnold together.

"Hey," Arnold said, "The sun's coming down. I think we'd better get back home before it gets too dark."

"Aw man, and we just got here…" Helga said with a disappointment.

"I promise you I'll bring you back. Besides I'm not very familiar with the roads in this place and we might get lost if we stay here any longer. Come on."

---

Dusk fell. Small birds like swallows were chirping loudly and they could be seen flying around the area and almost filling the sky, flocking to the trees for the night. The area they went though was a bird sanctuary of some sorts. Arnold quickened the pace and stepped on the gas pedal in hoping they would reach home in time before the day would go completely dark. He hoped the same thing that happened to him and his father years ago wouldn't happen to him again.

There was a welcoming sight in the distance. It was the United Nations flag and boy did Arnold was totally glad to see it. Eddy the guard at the post saw the recognizable jeep heading towards the gate and opened it. He gave a friendly salute and Arnold replied it back by waving his hand a bit. From the distance, he could see his father's jeep parked in front of the house. It somewhat confused him since Miles would usually come home much later than now. He shrugged it off, thinking it was no big deal and parked next to his father's jeep. He and Helga walked in together and to their surprise, Arnold's parents were sitting at the family room, giving them a scowling look.

"How was the tour?" Miles asked, in a typical, distrusting parents tone.

Noticing that they harbored some suspicions about them, Arnold replied after taking a deep breath, "It was… great. I brought her to many of the famous places in the country."

"Mm-hmm." Stella replied, feeling the answered given wasn't satisfactory, "Arnold, if you don't mind, could we talk to Helga for a moment, _alone_?"

Helga suddenly felt her blood rushed through her veins in fear. Her eyes widened and she could feel weak on the legs. Arnold looked at her in a worrisome look. He felt compelled to defend his friend. "Mom, dad. If this is about Bob—"

"No." Miles cut him off suddenly, "This is not about her father. This is about _her_ and _her_ alone." He replied back in a somewhat bitter tone. "Now go back, Arnold. Mom and I have something to talk to her."

Again, Arnold looked at her back, with a mix of pity, fear, and hope. A pity that she had to go through this, judging by the bitter tone of his parents. Fearful that what might his parents said or did to her. And hope that she would get past this ordeal away easily. Arnold then walked out from the house and to the veranda, pacing around, uneasy that he had left Helga alone to confront his parents. He also felt angered a bit that because he felt his parents had neither the right nor the authority to question her since Helga wasn't their child.

"Sit down." Miles ordered while pointing his finger downwards. Helga stayed silent, and decided not to answer back at him. Her heart was pounding and she began to sweat. Her hands were visibly shaken. Could they know that she ran away from home? Would they going to deliver an ultimatum to her? And send her back to the place that she left? She timidly nodded and took a seat in front of them. After a long, piercing and suspicious gaze from Arnold parents, Miles asked:

"Just how long are planning to stay here, Helga?"

Helga didn't know. She didn't plan for this trip. Heck, she even did not buy a ticket back home yet. She knew that she'd get into loads of trouble if she told them the truth, so she lied to them, "C-Couple of weeks… or s-so…" she replied nervously.

Arnold's parents, Stella especially, felt she was lying, judging from the stuttering, nervous and inconvincible answer she gave to them. Still, they just kept cool and wouldn't jump to conclusions. By piling more guilt into her mind they thought would make her crack and spill the beans. "Couple of weeks, huh?" Miles nodded with a suspicious look, "And I assume your parents know about this trip, right?"

Helga was feeling apprehensive with the question. At this point she knew that they were playing mind games with her. They were interrogating her. The only way to get out from this mess was she must not let the guilt be ridden all over her. She then replied with a somewhat calm tone, "Yes, they know."

The both of them were aware that she was trying to hide her nervousness. Still, they didn't want to accuse anything yet. "I see." Stella replied back, "So what is about this trip actually? It's been a day since you're here, and we don't know anything about your journey. Care to share it with us?" Stella voice was a lot kinder and more caring as opposed to her husband's, who sounded intimidating and somewhat menacing.

Still Helga wouldn't let a soft, warm voice lower her guard down. She was wary of their tricks. But it was so hard to think up for an answer for this particular question because she couldn't find one. And the ones she made up weren't very convincing. The somewhat calm Helga became nervous and frightened again, and because of the nervousness she couldn't think of an answer to satisfy Arnold's parents. Should she tell the truth? No, _definitely_ no! She screamed in her mind. She wouldn't want to get send back to Hillwood again. Not to that horrible home that housed her family. "I-I… I was…"

"Yes…?" Stella said back, after she patiently waited for an answer.

"_Think, Helga. THINK!" _she yelled in her thoughts. Nearly given up hope and cave in by telling the truth, she then suddenly remembered someone, _"Salma!"_ her mind shouted, "Yes, Salma! Salma, a friend of mine invited me over to the country for a trip."

Stella raised her eyebrow in incredulous disbelief, "Salma? That Red Cross nurse?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes ma'am."

"If she invited you over, then how come you're staying with us?" Miles asked accusingly.

The question was easily encountered with, "I'm supposed to meet her in five days time, but I decided to come early to visit an old friend." She answered coolly, referring to Arnold.

Miles and Stella looked at each other in disbelief. They'd been stumped by the answer Helga gave since it was believable. But still, they harbored a lot of skepticism towards her. Having nothing of sort to ask her anything regarding her presence in the country, one of them said, "Very well." Stella replied back. Helga smiled a bit. "Still, you've four days to go, and we can't let you just loiter in the house and do nothing."

"Yes." Miles agreed. "Everybody in this country plays a role, including you. So instead of seeing you doing nothing for the next four days, we've decided that you should help the country by doing some work. Are you okay with that?"

Helga pondered a moment and replied, "Sure, a'right. Doing odd jobs and some charity work aren't going to hurt or anything, are they?"

Stella nodded, "I'm giving you three choices:" she said as she produced her fingers to aid her in referring process, "One – help me at the Red Cross Camp. Two – help Mr.—"

The wind suddenly kicked in and slammed the window, producing a loud noise, startling everyone.

"here with the archeology expedition, and three, help a friend of ours, Father Campbell at the orphanage." Stella concluded her explanation.

Helga nodded softly and thought about the choices given. She didn't want to do grunt work or help Arnold's father at the dig site, since she had a feeling that Arnold's father hated her. So it got cut out from her options. Helping lots of children at the orphanage was not her forte, and the only thing she knew she could do was helping Arnold's mother at the Red Cross camp, since she wanted to meet that old lady who thanked her when she brought the medicine just this morning. So she said to Stella, "I'd like to go and work with you. I want to help those people out of their suffering." The words came straight from her heart.

Stella nodded, and replied, "Okay then." She then turned to the front door and yelled, "Arnold, you can come in now."

Arnold slowly opened the door and saw Helga smiling softly at him. Seemed that she managed to get away, he had thought. A classic Helga Pataki maneuver. He came up to her and asked, "So how was the talk?" the both of them walked away together from Miles and Stella as the parents looked at them in deep distrust.

"It was very… constructive." Helga said back, almost giggling.

"So, how about the review?" Arnold asked.

"Let's go." Helga replied back, smiling. Arnold then pointed to the computer room and they both went in, and closed the door.

"She ran away." Miles said accusingly after watching the door shut. "Bob must've done something to that girl to make her run away." He guessed accusingly. Helga got out back, and Stella and Miles went silent for a moment. Helga went into Arnold's room, took her bags with her and went in the computer room back, and closed the door. The ever skeptical parents resumed their conversation again.

"Now, now, honey." Stella replied back to calm him down, "Let's not jump to conclusions…"

"What conclusions? It's obvious! Don't you hear the tone of her voice? And that stupid excuse? She's lying! It'd be wrong if we let her stay here, Stella. We _have_ to send her back home!"

"I know, I know!" Stella sighed. "But… I don't know, I think we should let her stay for a while. She must've a reason why she ran away from home..."

"_What?_" Miles bellowed in disbelief, "Just what in God's name are you talking about?"

"I don't know. But… I think it's more than some petty teen angst and differences with her family..."

---

"So, here's where you'll be staying for the rest of your trip here." Arnold said to Helga as he took a seat on the computer chair gazing at her who was sitting on the mattress. He could see some hint of discomfort and uneasiness coming from her.

"But, if you prefer to stay in my room, I'll gladly—"

"No, no thanks." Helga replied back, showing her right hand to protest. "It's a nice room. Thanks for fixing this room up for me."

"No prob. I just want to make you comfortable." He replied back, smiling, "So, ready for the review?" he said as he spun around on the computer chair.

"Yeah. Oh, Arnold. Can I ask you a favor?"

Arnold gazed back at her quizzically. "Yeah, sure." He shrugged.

"Is there a chance of you seeing Salma again sometime on this week? Sooner possibly?" she asked.

"Probably tomorrow." He replied back, "Depends on which camp I'll send the medicine."

"Okay, if you ever meet her could you please tell her that she's expecting me to stay with her in four days time from now?"

Arnold was taken aback. Helga was asking for him to lie. "I get this stemmed from the talk with my parents, huh?"

Though she was reluctant to admit it, but this was this only way to save her skin from getting send back home, "Yeah. Tell her to say that only if your parents asked her."

Arnold sighed. He was a little bit disappointed with her, "Helga, I don't know why you are here, and I don't have any intention to ask because I know it will cause a rift between us, but sooner or later you have to tell us the truth."

"_So that's why he never asked…" _Helga thought to herself, almost feeling guilty about it. "I will tell when the time is right." She pressed sternly, "Right now, it's the time for me to review your article. Where is it?"

Arnold nodded, and he switched the computer on and showed it to Helga. He got out from his chair and let Helga sat on it and she began to read his piece, carefully and attentively. Arnold got bored of waiting for Helga to finish reading his piece, so he decided to do something to occupy his time. He looked at Helga's backpack and saw a vacation pamphlet poking out from the pouch. He took it out and began to read it.

"'So You're Vacationing in Costa Rica', huh?" Arnold asked, as he read the pamphlet with interest.

"Yeah." Helga replied back. "Did you know there was another San Lorenzo there?"

"I kinda heard of it before, but never knew it actually existed." Arnold replied back, studying a map inside it, "Hey, would you look at that, it actually _has_ a San Lorenzo in it. Awesome." he said, pointing to the black text that spelled 'San Lorenzo'.

"You'd think it'd be awesome to have a vacation there? In Costa Rica?" Helga asked as she read the Arnold's article.

"Beaches? Forests? Tropical country? I'm a sucker for those kinds of places so I'm there." He replied back, almost snickering. Without Arnold knowing, she smiled widely at his response. A vacation at Costa Rica would be sweet if they ever got together at last. As Helga read the article and Arnold were sitting on the mattress reading the pamphlet, a shout was heard coming from the outside.

"Kids, dinner!" Stella shouted at them.

"Should we go for a break?" Helga asked as she turned around looking at Arnold.

"If you could bear my mom's cooking then all right." Arnold replied back, smiling.

---

_Later…_

Arnold and Helga walked wobbly into the room again, and with their sickly faces from eating Stella's cooking. After Arnold closed the door, Helga said, "Oh man…" after she smacked her lips and moved her tongue around in disgust, "Your mom _fails_ at cooking! And I thought my mom was a horrible cook… ugh!"

"Hey, that's my mother you're talking about!" Arnold retorted back nonchalantly.

"Ah, just be quiet mama's boy!" Helga replied back teasingly, as she sat back in front of the computer. "I wanna finish this up so I can forget how _horrible_—" she said while throwing her hands in front of her, "the taste that's infesting and murdering my taste buds!"

Arnold just chuckled at Helga's exaggerated reactions and resumed reading the pamphlet. Yes, he was that bored, or he was too stupid, or scared to make a move, or didn't want to, or he still thought they were just friends and nothing beyond that. It's Helga, after all. Minutes went past by. While Arnold read the information contained on the pamphlet, Helga then replied:

"I'm done reading it." Helga said, as she turned around to face Arnold and smiled sardonically at him.

"And the verdict is…" he asked. He was very nervous for the anticipating answer.

"My honest opinion is… horrible." Helga said coolly. Arnold began to frown, "How did you win that stupid essay contest Arnold? Bribe the judges? I see lots and lots of grammatical errors. And don't get me started on how you pace the article and you somehow, in your infinite wisdom convoluted this thing to the point it's nigh unreadable!"

That was the most brutally honest opinion that Arnold had ever heard. He felt disheartened, discouraged and somewhat angered at her review. But then again, he got what he wanted, an honest, constructive and helpful review from Helga G. Pataki. Maybe with her review, he could improve his writings. He nodded softly and began to accept his flaws after a period of denial.

"But on the plus side," Helga added, "It's very articulate. It's extremely informative and descriptive, and you actually made me imagine in my head all the places and events you mentioned in the article. I could feel the emotion that you actually want to portray. And plus with the pictures you took, it's a very powerful thing to show." Arnold seemed to be pleased by that.

The pictures that Helga mentioned were taken by Arnold during his stay in San Lorenzo. It depicted how harsh live in that place could be. There were images of malnourished children and ailing adults lying sick in bed. A group shot of a large family that wore dirty clothing posing in front of their small dilapidated hut. And there was a picture of a government army pointing his weapon to a captured rebel, and the most striking of them all, a mother grieving over her baby's death. But in spite of the gritty hardcore realism of humanity that Arnold took, there was a little beauty in some. There were pictures of the natural landscape and animal life in San Lorenzo that Helga considered to be spectacular. Human images such a smiling woman and children playing around touched Helga's heart.

"You could win a Pulitzer with these pics, Arnold." Helga said, showing him her favorite picture. She then turned the picture around and said, "Poor kid... she must be pretty hungry." the picture she was holding was a scruffy looking girl biting on a crumb of bread as she looked back at the camera with hope, distress, and weariness.

"She's not hungry, Helga." Arnold replied back dejectedly, "She's starving." Helga looked back at Arnold in disbelief. She then looked at the picture again to reanalyze the little girl's face. Arnold was right. "Was it you that gave that bread to her?"

Arnold lowered his head down and replied, "Yeah... I gave her my lunch. That was the only thing I could do to help her in such a short notice." he sighed. "You know, she shouldn't be like that. Millions of other children in other parts of the world are suffering the same fate as she does, and yet, richer countries don't do anything to help them out. Just think: billions of dollars were spent just to create bombs and weapons and stuff, while kids like that little girl are neglected by the world. It's just sad..."

"Yeah..." Helga concurred, as she gazed back at the striking image, absorbing every single detail of it.The both of them were in deep thought. After much pondering, Helga looked back at the monitor and said,"This article of yours... the only thing you need to work with is your writing."

"I suppose you're right…" Arnold replied back, "But I need someone to help me." He smiled at Helga.

"Nah, I'm not going to help you. Do it on your own." She replied back sarcastically.

His broaden his smile, "Thanks, Helga."

And Helga unofficially became Arnold's tutor. Arnold took a seat next to her and started to type away under close supervision by Helga. Every bad grammar was restructured and misspells were corrected. The pacing of the article was reorganized to make the article interesting and enjoyable to read. And after the final proofreading, they were proud of a job well done. At the end of the article, there was written:

_By Arnold._

Arnold then added:

_& Helga Pataki._

Helga was quite surprised and flattered by it, but she modestly declined the credit, "Come on, Footballhead. I didn't do anything. You were the one who came up with all these stuff."

"But it just feels so wrong not to credit you, Helga. You've done a lot to help me."

"Hey, consider it as an act of charity from me. I don't want recognition."

"Oh, come on. Don't be so modest about it." he persuaded. Helga let out a soft breath and replied, "Okay, if you insist." She shrugged, "But don't blame me if they credited me more than you." She had noticed that Arnold forgot to include his last name at the end of the article, but she just kept mum about it. Thus, it was written 'By Arnold & Helga Pataki.' _"Heh, Arnold Pataki…" _she chortled softly.

"Huzzah." He cheered, throwing his arms in the air. He then looked at the clock on the wall, "Wow, it's almost midnight."

"I'm gonna hit the hay. I've promised your mom that I'll help her at her camp tomorrow."

Arnold smiled. He was proud of her, "Glad to hear that you're willing to help."

"What, you think I'm selfish?" she asked back accusingly.

"No…" he replied back softly, "I'm just… happy to hear it." They smiled at each other, after they gazed at each other admiringly.

"Goodnight." Arnold said, as he walked to the door.

"You too." Helga replied back. And with that Arnold slowly closed the door behind him. Helga then threw herself onto the mattress, grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it. She sighed pleasingly at herself.

"What a wonderful day…"

* * *

I think I should go easy with the political commentaries on the later chapters because I know some statements in this chapter will provoke people to retort back and call me silly names. Man, I'm _so _going to receive lots of flaks from this. Well, I'm glad this chapter is over. So if you like it then please leave a review. Wanna criticize my political views write stuff too. 


	9. Concern

_Author's Note: _Wow, that was embarassing. In the previous chapter, I was reading it again and it just astounded me that it was riddled with so many errors that I had to rewrite some of the contents to correct it. Just like when Helga reviewed Arnold's article and told him how bad his article was. Wow, irony. Well, that's what you get for not proofreading, like this chapter >.>. I'm in a rush right now. Oh yeah, one more thing, I think I better be frank right now, if you're looking for a angsty, sappy lovey-dovey Arnold-Helga fic, you won't find it here. Seriously. Sorry to disappoint y'all.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 9: Concern

Helga woke up from her bed only to listen to the sound of birds chirping outside of the window. Imagine that, being wakened up by tropical birds instead of a fowl or an alarm clock. It was music to her ears. She looked at a wall clock above the computer and showed that she woke up earlier than usual. She never woke up early before. After she wiped her face and eyes and shook her head violently to make herself more alert, she got out from the room and saw Arnold helping his mother preparing breakfast at the kitchen. _"Wow…"_ Helga thought to herself. _"What a momma's boy."_ She just smiled at them and went back to her room to pick up her towel and her toothbrush. She then went back out and proceeded to the bathroom outside the house. Today would be the first day of her working with Stella, so she wanted to make a good first impression to her.

After Helga closed the door to the bathroom, Stella turned to her son and asked, "Arnold, do you feel there's something peculiar about your friend?"

Arnold knew the peculiar-ness of his friend, but he wanted to avoid the subject as he wasn't uncomfortable of talking about it with his mother. "She's been like that ever since I know her, mom. It's nothing to be concerned about." He replied as he whisked the eggs in the bowl.

"Nothing out of the ordinary? The same old her?" she asked back.

"Yes ma'am." Arnold responded back. "Would you please drop the subject, mom?"

Stella furrowed her eyebrows at her son, "You're sounding as if you're keeping secrets from me." She said accusingly.

"I'm telling the truth, I know nothing. And I feel uncomfortable of talking about this." Arnold replied back rather sternly.

Stella still looked at her son with a skeptical look. Arnold let an exasperated breath out, stopped whisking and looked back at his mother. "Mom, really, I don't know anything. Heck, I _don't_ even want to know why she's here. Now would you _please_ stop looking at me like that?"

Stella sighed back, in disbelief. Her son never acted like this way before, but ever since Helga came here… no, no, she said to herself. She would not blame the guest for her son's actions. She let out a soft breath out, and tried hard to shrug it off. The hash browns she was cooking began to burn. She then quickly took it out from the frying pan. _"I hope you're telling the truth, Arnold…"_

---

"Helga, before we start, I want to tell you a few things." Stella said to her, "Once we arrive at the camp, I'll bring you to the back where we store the medicines so I can give you a quick crash course about which medicine is which. When the nurses or the doctors ask for something or to help them, you _must_ do it quickly, because lives are very precious, and every second counts."

Helga nodded in understanding.

"If you have nothing to do, observe the doctors while they are treating the patients. You might learn a thing or two from them. And interact with the patients, because we want to lift their spirits up, to show to them that they still have hope and such."

"But I don't speak Spanish…" Helga replied back.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you are with them, they know that you are concerned about their wellbeing and they won't feel neglected by us. It is hope that makes them believe that they are still alive to this day."

Again, Helga nodded.

"But if you really feel that you need to learn Spanish, you can learn from one of the nurses there, if you want to. I'm sure they're happy to help. Finally, there's a mess hall next to the camp, so if you're hungry you can have lunch there. But don't eat too much because we're reserving it for the patients and the malnourished children. Are you clear about this?"

"Crystal." Helga replied back.

This particular conversation happened outside of Arnold's home. Stella and Helga were waiting for the carpool van to arrive as they were watched by Arnold at the veranda while he was tying up his shoes. He was quite worried about Helga, as he wouldn't want his mother to pester and disturb her with questions regarding why she was here. Hopefully she wouldn't get into much trouble with his mother, he thought worriedly to himself. It also occurred to him that his parents were very skeptical of him lately. He then just shook his head to repel those thoughts away from his mind. He then walked towards the two females and began a small talk with them.

"So… you're looking forward to this?" He asked Helga. He had his hands inside his pants' pockets.

"Yeah, I'm doing charity work. I mean, all the cool kids are doing it now, right?" Helga couldn't believe that she said that. She wanted to smack herself for saying that.

Arnold smiled back at her, and he turned to his mother, "You think she'll do a good job, mom?"

"She will." She forced herself a smile. Not that she doubted her usefulness, but the words from his husband seemed to influence her and her dislike for Helga started to grow, but not by much. Hopefully it wouldn't become chronic, she thought to herself.

Arnold just nodded, and said back to Helga, "You know the article that we wrote last night? I've emailed to them and I'm going to post the hardcopy right now."

"Hey, good luck, Football Head. You're gonna need it."

He smiled back at her and said, "Well, I guess I better get going," He pointed to his jeep behind him with his thumb, "I have to pick up Marcelo and send medicines to the Red Cross Camp East. See you guys later." he held a hand up and parted. Helga and Stella did the same, as they watch Arnold walked up to his jeep. As he left the village, a van came from the opposite direction and into the village. At the hood, there was the Red Cross logo printed in it. The driver blare the horn twice at them.

"That's our ride," Stella said to the young volunteer. "Come on."

And they went in. They passengers were doctors wearing casual outfit rather than those white coats which doctors would commonly wear. Helga assumed they were doctors since 1) They were riding on a van operated by the Red Cross, 2) one of them were reading his patient's health log and 3) all of them, except the driver had their stethoscopes hanging on their neck.

"Good morning, Stella." The only female doctor besides Stella greeted her in English with a thin Jamaican accent. "Who's dat girl with ya?"

"She's my son's friend." Stella replied back as she took a seat next to a window. Helga sat next to her. "Her name's Helga. She's volunteering to help us at the camp today."

"Ah, how are yousa doin', girl?" she smiled at her, "Hopefully yousa will do a good job."

"Thanks," Helga said back. And after that, the conversation just seemed to die down. Everyone in the van seemed to be occupied with his or her own thoughts. Helga was no exception. She didn't know what to expect once they arrived at the camp. And also she really wanted to know more about the old lady she met yesterday inside the ward. She wanted to know why she spoke in perfect English, since every local that encountered before either spoke Spanish or in broken English. Maybe there was something more about her that Helga didn't know about. Hopefully she'd have time to have a nice conversation with the old lady.

Stella looked out of the window, drifting in her own thoughts. But mostly it was about Helga, Arnold and her actions as a parent. Were her motherly instincts true about Helga? Should she force her to tell her phone number so she could call Bob and Miriam? Or she should just wait for her to tell her the problem she was facing? Somehow, she could relate to what Helga was facing right now. She too, when she was in her teen years, ran away from home. Back then she ran away because her ideals were dissimilar to her father's. She hated him so much that she ran away from home. And that was the most stupid and regrettable decision she had made in her entire life. But, looking at Helga, she felt something different came out from her. It wasn't a difference in ideals or your basic teen angst, but she felt that Helga was… unwanted, or worse, hated.

The van drove on, passing through jungles, shallow rivers and small villages. The van suddenly slowed down, but nobody bothered to ask why. Helga, being the newest addition to the van, was perplexed by the driver's action. So she asked Stella:

"Why are we slowing down?"

"Local superstition: be quiet as possible when passing through a graveyard." Stella asked as she looked outside.

Helga raised an eyebrow, and looked outside of the van. The graveyard was not big, and it had the jungle surrounding it with shady trees dotting the place providing some shelter for the graves from the hot sun. Stella suddenly sat up straight and had her eyes looking at a very small grave under a very large tree. Helga could hear her sobbing. Stella placed her hand on the window and over the small grave, and rubbed it gently with a sort of motherly touch. The sobbing could be heard getting louder and louder, and Helga could see a tear dropped on her lap. Stella quickly took out some tissue paper from her purse and wiped her eyes. Helga was very perplexed and Stella's actions bewildered her. She wanted to know why.

"Um… Mrs.—"

"It's okay, Helga…" she said, sobbing in between, "I'm fine… I'm just okay. It's just, it's… nothing."

Helga furrowed her eyebrows in a quizzical gaze. She wanted to know why. She wanted to ask Arnold later about this.

---

Stella brought her to a small shack behind the ward tent where its inside was loaded with boxes of medicines for various diseases. They stopped at every shelf as Stella introduced her to a variety of drugs, courtesy of private donors and the Red Cross. Medicines in many forms, liquid and tablets, in assorted colors and sizes somewhat intimidated Helga. What if she got them wrong and all mixed up? Would the patient survive if he or she were given the wrong medication? There was one type medicine that quickly caught her attention though; it was called Arnold, a liquefied medicine that had to be injected into a patient's body. When inquiring about it, Stella replied that she and her husband were the ones who invented the antidote to cure the dreaded Sleeping Disease that killed thousands of San Lorenzonians. It was now called the Sombra Disease. Obviously the cure was named after their son.

After the short crash course, Stella and Helga walked out from the shack and back into the ward where they could finally began their duties as life savers. Helga followed the good doctor from behind as she approached a patient who was lying sick on the bed. Stella lifted one the arms up and checked the patient's pulse. She talked to the patient to comfort her and to gave assurance they she was going to be all right. But unlike Arnold, her Spanish was really good, Helga thought to herself. Her flow was smooth and even, and didn't stutter or stumbled like Arnold. She then thought to herself she really needed to learn Spanish for this. Stella then asked Helga to bring her a particular medicine located on a tray in front of the bed. Helga nodded, and did what she was ordered. Piece of cake, hopefully the rest of the day would be as easy as this…

---

"Marcelo, do you know where are we going to after this?" Arnold said to his somewhat adopted brother while driving through the jungle, splattering mud left and right and running over poor small jungle creatures that unfortunately happened to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

"Where?" he asked back, winding the window down and took his head out from the jeep.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Arnold said in a warning tone, "Get back in here!" he yanked the kid's shirt and pulled him in, "You wanna get hit by those tree branches?"

"But the trees are so far away from me!" he whined back.

"You rather take the chances?" Arnold asked back, daring him.

The boy looked back at him and said, "_Sí_." And he poked his head out once again. But Arnold, yet again, pulled him back in.

"Man, aren't you adventurous." He replied back, sighing. "Now sit tight. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Because you're concerned about me?"

"No, actually I couldn't care less what'll happen to you." He replied playfully, "I just don't want your grandma get angry at me and kill me." he replied, smiling.

"_Culero…" _Marcelo mumbled back under his breath as he crossed his arms. Arnold knew he spoke Spanish but didn't know what the uttered word meant.

"What did you say?" asked Arnold.

"Oh, nothing…" he said with a sly smile. "So, where are we going?"

"To meet your _giiirlfriendddd_," he said with a playful, affectionate and sweet tone, "Salma."

Marcelo's face blushed and reddened in embarrassment, but he quickly replied, "No she's not! You're dumb!"

"_Ah, kids…" _Arnold thought to himself with a wry smile.

---

So Arnold drove the jeep up on the small hill and stopped in front of a small old wooden building that arguably as sturdy as his mother's sick camp. It was the Red Cross camp East where Salma was working. He switched the engine off and with Marcelo they got out from the jeep and went to the back to deliver medicines inside the camp. Arnold took out the cart out from trunk as Marcelo lifted the boxes out from the jeep and put them on it. With a little effort, they finally finished the job and Arnold let Marcelo push the cart to the building since the little guy insisted, even though he had to walk with a stick, because he had a stubby left leg. Arnold just shrugged and let him be. Less work for him and Marcelo could impress Salma with his cart pushing skills, Arnold thought to amuse himself. So Arnold just followed his somewhat adopted brother from behind and into the building, where they saw Salma checking a patient up.

Salma smiled at them and called the head doctor to announce that the medicines had finally arrived. The bald, white haired and thin old man quickly came over and greeted them. He humored Marcelo by making a joke and rubbed his hair and gave Arnold a handshake. Salma walked over to Marcelo and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a gesture of gratitude for bringing the medicines to them. Other nurses, who had grown to like Marcelo, playfully teased him as Arnold, the doctors and the patients laughed softly at his antics. The little boy really lifted their spirits up every time he was there. Marcelo continued to blush and his face was flushed with red for being too embarrassed, and yet happy that his little crush gave him a little kiss. He then hid behind Arnold as he could only laughed at him and rubbed his curly black hair.

"So will there be any shipments coming in upcoming weeks, sir?" Arnold asked the head doctor.

"Yes, in fact there is son." He replied back in a thick Brazilian accent, "Let's go to my table so I show you the shipment schedule."

Arnold then followed the doctor to his desk as Marcelo played around with Salma for a moment. After being shown the schedule from the doctor, Arnold then shook his hand with him and parted. He then went to Salma to pick Marcelo up so they could go to their next destination.

"Why, aren't you having fun?" Arnold playfully teased him.

"Oh, shut up." Marcelo replied back, smiling.

"Go wait inside the car, will you? I have something to ask your girlfriend right now." Arnold asked him. Marcelo punched him in the legs for teasing him, and ran off to the jeep as he waved at Salma. Salma did the same.

"He's a playful kid, isn't he?" Arnold said to her.

"He sure is." She sighed back, "It's a shame that my nephew isn't as spry or adventurous as him. That's the difference between kids here and the States I think, kids here climb trees, go outdoors and let their imaginations run wild, while kids back home sit around in the house play videogames all day and let their imagination restricted…" she sighed again.

Arnold nodded, seemed to concur with her, "Hey Salma, you've met my friend Helga, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I brought her to your house. What a weird girl. Nice, though."

"Yeah, she told me that earlier. Thanks for bringing her."

"Hey man, no prob. I was just helping a traveler going about the country."

Arnold sighed back, "Well, thanks again for that. By the way, she asked me to ask you something. She said she wants to crash at your place three days from now."

"Huh? Why?"

"She… kinda told my parents that you invited her over to stay for a while."

"Now why does she want to stay with me, all of the sudden? Don't tell me you're treating her like crap back at your house." She replied accusingly.

"What?" he chuckled, "Heck no. My parents are assuming that she ran away from home, but I don't want to believe that. She's probably using you as a reason to evade my parents' suspicions."

"Well, if what you said is really true, then I really think she's running away from home, judging from those elaborate stories she made."

"I'm going have to disagree with you then. I still think she did not run away from home."

"Whatever you say, Arnold."

"Well I'd better get going. Marcelo is probably tired of waiting right now. Be sure to say that only if my parents ask you."

"Okay, will do. Don't worry about it. See ya."

---

"Come and sit next me, child." The old lady said to Helga while she pushed a medicine cart to the doctor's desk at the end of the room. "You look very tired. Take a rest." The old lady added. Helga nodded, and after she put the cart back, she then went over to the old lady, took a chair nearby and sat next to her. 'Interact with the patients,' Helga remembered Stella's helpful words. And so she did. Helga opened her listening ears.

"I see you are in great distress." The old lady said to her.

Helga was in shock. How could she know when they barely knew each other? "You think?" she replied sardonically, but it didn't sound rude. The old lady was humored by it, and she chuckled a bit.

"I can see through your eyes that you are experiencing sadness and anguish from a very recent incident. I will not ask what troubles you. It's all up to you whether you want to tell me… or not."

Helga looked at her again. Should she tell her about her family and the reason why she was here? A part of her told her no, while the other one said yes. Helga's feeling was mixed. She was somewhat angered that a stranger wanted to understand her problem. Who did she think she was, the Voodoo Lady? Helga thought bitterly to herself. But on the other hand, telling her feelings to an old lady that looked caring and understanding wouldn't hurt. But when Stella walked past them, she changed her mind. Maybe the old lady and Stella made a pact together so Arnold's parents would intervene in her affairs. Something that she really did not want to. If anyone should be intervening, it would be Arnold, and only Arnold.

The old lady felt that the girl was reluctant to give an answer, judging from how long she sat idly without replying back to her. It was humbly justifiable though. A scared, insecure young girl like her would doubt and distrust her. The old lady figured that she would comfort her by telling her a story of her own. A story that she shared with only a few people that as far as she remembered.

"You're probably thinking why I am speaking English so well, aren't you?" she asked her.

Helga seemed surprised. She read her mind. Maybe she was a Voodoo lady after all. "Yes." She replied with a nod.

The old lady chuckled, "That's because I was born and raised in Puerto Rico." Helga gave her a dry smile.

So she asked, "So why are you here? Are you on a vacation or something and just struck jungle fever?"

"Malaria to be exact. But don't worry about me, though. The doctors are just exaggerated my condition, I'm going to be fine." She replied warmly. "And I'm not on vacation, sadly. Hadn't had one ever since I was young. But a vacation would be nice though."

"So like, why are you here?" Helga asked again.

"I was no older than you when I came to this country. I am here because I joined the San Lorenzo Revolution many years ago. My father told me it was all a fool's dream, overthrowing an evil dictator and all that. But I stood affirm to my believes and wanted to prove him wrong. So I ran away from home."

Helga raised an eyebrow in shock disbelief. How come everything seemed to intertwine with her problems right now, she shouted in her mind.

"But I was on the wrong side, apparently. The government kept winning and winning, until all of us grew tired of fighting, and we just stopped. I was ashamed. Maybe my father was right. I was chasing a fool's dream, trying to bring utopia into this madness. I felt I made the worst decision in my entire life. My decision also strained my relationship with my family. So I decided to go back home to my family and ask for an apology, but there seemed to be no transport around and I had no means to contact my family. So I went back, met my old group but by the time I was there, they decided to resort to one last plan. Something drastic and radical, and it worked."

"So you finally won huh?"

"Yes, but by the time we won, my father died and I couldn't even go home for the funeral. It was the saddest day in my life. What I heard that it was because of me my father died, because he was too worried about me that he became a complete mess of himself. It struck me so hard that I decided to stop fighting, and let my rebel friends maintain a government. But the irony was that their governing style was even worse than the dictator. I was a fool to believe them. And they restrict everything to the point that San Lorenzo is what you see right now, poor and undeveloped. I couldn't get out from the country due to the restrictions, so I had to stay here for the rest of my life. Going back home again would be too late right now."

The old lady's story about her father in someway also struck Helga hard. Maybe her parents were worried about her too. She wondered what happened to them right now, back at the home that she despised so much…

---

_Back at the Pataki's residence…_

Olga opened the door to Helga's room quietly and took a peek inside. Quiet and silent, just like yesterday, and the day before it. It had been two days since Helga left home, without her family knowing about where she went and when she'd be coming back. Olga wandered in further and looked around her sister's room. The room pretty much described her sister in a lot of ways: crying for help. She then took a seat at the desk and looked at a picture frame in front of her. It was a family photo with Helga the only one with a scowling, angry look on her face. Olga had always thought that she did that because she loved to ruin a perfect family picture.

Olga then looked at herself, smiling a winning smile and always looked perfect in every way. She then realized she, in a way was the root of all this. She overshadowed her and made her little sister feel like her existence was insignificant. Unloved. Olga looked at Helga again, but this time, she studied her face carefully. It wasn't because she wanted to ruin the portrait, but she was miserable in every way. It was a cry for help.

Olga's eyes became teary, thinking the fate of her sister right now. Is she safe? Is she alright? Where is she right now? There must be something that Olga didn't find to clue her in about Helga whereabouts. She tried to remember again. Did she leave any clues? Did she leave anything behind at all? Did she leave any note? Note… of course! The note that Helga had left for her in her room! Oh, she was so stupid that for forgetting about it! She probably was too distraught over her sister's running away that she forgot to observe the most important clue of all. So she quickly ran out from the room and into hers. She dug out her wastepaper basket in search of the note, reopened every crumpled paper in it. Thank goodness she didn't take the trash out. Finally she found what she was searching for, so put it on her desk, took a pen out and underlined this one particular remark many times:

_By the time you read this, I'm probably on a plane right now, contemplating on my next journey._

She then quickly ran downstairs, where Bob and Miriam were inside the family room waiting next to the telephone waiting for the cops to call them incase there was any news regarding about their daughter. They both look weary and tired from searching her daughter and looking for every clue about her whereabouts.

"It's been two days now…" Bob said wearily to his wife. The bags under his eyes grew bigger and darker, and he didn't shave for the last couple of days.

"We can't give up hope." Miriam replied tiredly. Her eyes were all bloodshot and her hair was messy due to the lack of sleep.

"I wonder what she's doing right now… hopefully she's safe." He replied back.

Miriam nodded, "All we can do is hope for the best now, and pray she isn't hurt." A series of thunderous thumps was heard descending down from the stairs. Bob and Miriam turned to the entrance and saw Olga running towards them with a piece of paper on one of her hand.

"Mommy, daddy! I think I know where Helga might be!" she then showed the piece of note to her parents. They both were in shock.

"Quickly!" Bob pointed to the door, "To the Pataki-mobile!" to refer to the Hummer.

---

_At the airport…_

"Please! Have you seen this girl?" Miriam showed a perky, happy, cheerful airline clerk behind the counter a picture of a scowling, angry looking Helga. "We've been looking for her for days now. I'm begging you, if you have any information, _please_ tell us!"

The airline clerk tried to recollect her memories from the past few days, and she could remember vaguely that uncertain, weary and feeling just plain miserable girl that asked her for a ticket to a foreign land. But unfortunately, she had forgotten the name.

"Well, she does look familiar to me. What's the girl's name?" She asked, "I could find her in the airline database." So Bob told her his daughter's name. It was the first time that Bob said her name correctly.

After some effort, the clerk finally found the name, "Yeah… I think I got her. She left the country a few days ago to San Lorenzo."

Helga's family was horrified.

"San Lorenzo?" Bob bellowed out loud, "Where the heck is that?"

"It's in the Caribbean, somewhere near Puerto Rico, daddy." Olga informed her.

"When's the next plane bound for that country?" Miriam asked. The clerk checked the computer again.

"The next plane to San Lorenzo will not arrive until next week on Friday, ma'am." She replied back.

"Please, could you _please_ find us an earlier flight?" Miriam begged and pleaded her, "I'm begging you! My daughter ran away to that country and I'm really, really worried about her! Please! Help me!"

The clerk sympathized with her, and doubled her efforts to help the poor mother. Alas, she couldn't find anything. "I'm sorry ma'am, there aren't any earlier flights. But I'll book you into the flight I mentioned earlier, just in case."

"No flights at all?" Miriam asked back disbelievingly.

"Sorry ma'am," the clerk sighed. "Nothing. I'll book tickets for all of your family, okay?"

Miriam accepted the painful truth, and nodded. She softly said thanks to her as the clerk typed some information on the ticket. While she was doing that, the Patakis stood in a circle, trying to think up what would be their next move.

"We should call the State Department and tell us our situation." Bob said to them, wiping his face.

"But the thing is," Olga replied, "from what I've heard from my friends that San Lorenzo just formed a new government and our country has yet to recognize its existence. It means that we have no embassy there to for us call. So they can't do anything."

"So, what are you saying?" Miriam asked her daughter.

"We can't do anything but to wait for the flight we're taking. Unless of course, we directly ask the San Lorenzo government to help us…"

"So go and call them or something Olga! Do the internet stuff that you always do!" Bob said back, rather harshly.

"Ma'am, here are your tickets." The clerk said.

* * *

Why did Stella cry when they passed by the graveyard? How did Marcelo lost his leg? Will Helga's family fly to San Lorenzo? Why am I asking you these questions? Why am I imitating that fishhead newscaster from **_Spongebob_**? I know there are errors in this chapter because I didn't bother to proofread, so if you found any, please tell me. Kthxbye.  



	10. Patience

_Author's Note: _Gah, I hate this. I saw "The Journal" episode the other week and I got some facts wrong. The name of the river is wrong, I got the civilization incorrect and I got the whole dang country incorrect - but the latter is intentional. More on it later. The river's name escapes me now, but just assume that it's one of the rivers that form the The Serpent River. Miles supposed to study the Mayans, not the Aztecs and I've corrected the mistake in Chapter Six. San Lorenzo is suppossed to be in Central America, but there's a lot of people that would assume that the Carribean is a part of Central America, and I'll leave it just at that. Also, the San Lorenzo in this story is based from a book called 'Cat's Cradle' by Kurt Vonnegut. It's not 100 percent accurate when compared to the book since I want to construct a San Lorenzo of my own. (Which also the reason why book fans hated it when their favorite book is adapted to the big screen :)) But I think I got Miles' (Anthro & Archeologist) and Stella's (Botanist & Doctor) job right, and that's a relief. Okay, regarding this chapter... to be honest I found kinda... boring myself. Hey, don't leave just yet! It's one of the chapters that I have to write in order to understand the character's background. An exposition chapter in order to understand Helga's character. Well, I guess that about enough of my banter. Enjoy reading. Oh yeah, I'd like to say a big huge 'SORRY' to all of you for this rather short chapter, and another big huge 'SORRY' for not updating for quite a while. (Points to Chapter title) :)

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 10: Patience

The door to Helga's room was knocked repeatedly.

"Come in." Helga answered softly as she put her brush down on the desk. She just had a shower.

The door was being opened slightly, and Arnold peered inside the room slowly by poking his head inside. He gave a soft smile at Helga, and she replied back with a weary smile. Arnold just returned home after his busy and tiring day of delivering medicines and equipments to the Red Cross and one of the United Nations agencies which was helping the country (UNDP). He wanted to see Helga to ask about her day today. He was a bit concerned whether his mother gave Helga a hard time. But still in spite of the weariness, the both of them were glad to each other at the end of the day.

"So can I come in?" Arnold asked.

Helga rolled her eyes in disbelief, "Jeez, do I _have_ to repeat myself again?"

Arnold just nodded embarrassedly at her, and went in. "So how was your first day at the camp? Did my mom give you a hard time?" he asked as he sat on the computer chair.

"Not really." Helga replied back as she sat on the mattress. "All I did was helping the docs attend the patients, hauling medicines and drugs here and there and took care of a baby."

Arnold laughed softly, "_You_ took care of a baby?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I _did_ take care of a baby you skeptical glorified delivery boy. But I suck at it though. The rugrat cried a lot so much, that a nurse had to take the baby away from me so she can take care of the kid." She shook her head embarrassedly.

"Heh," Arnold chortled, "But overall, it was a good day, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…"she agreed somewhat reluctantly, "So, how was your day, Football Head?"

"Ah, as usual." He sighed, "Going places, deliver things, meet the same people I met yesterday…" replied, in a somewhat bored tone. Helga noticed the faint jaded tone in his reply. She began to wonder whether Arnold was tired with this place, doing the same mundane things and all.

"You sound like you're pretty bored. You're tired of doing those things over and over again, aren't you?" Helga asked.

"Yeah… I guess you're kinda right. But what can I do? People need me here." Arnold sighed, "Oh yeah. I came by to tell you dinner is at half an hour from now."

"Your mom's cooking?" she asked dreadfully.

"Heheh, don't worry about it. I help a little bit." He replied back, to calm her down.

"To be honest… wow, I can't believe I'm saying this; since I hate saying anything flattering about you," but Arnold just chuckled at the remark, "but your cooking is _way_ better then your mom's." she smiled at him.

"Shh… keep it down," Arnold shushed her up, as he turned to the door looking outside the room to see whether his mother heard them or not, "You want my mom to get jealous of me?" he replied playfully. It drew some laughs from Helga. It seemed the cooking lessons that he got from his grandmother really paid off after all. Then there was silence between them, since they got nothing else to say as they looked at each other deep in the eyes. It was eerie to say at least, that they began to notice that they actually were getting along fine with each other as time went pass by. "Well, I'd better get going now. Don't want my mom to ruin the dinner." He said to break the silence.

"Wait. Hey Arnold," Helga said, to stop him from leaving the room. Ever since she saw Stella crying when they went pass the graveyard on that particular morning, she had been meaning to ask Arnold regarding it. She knew the question might invoke sadness, or even anger from Arnold, but she just had too. Her curiosity got the best of her.

"Yeah?" he replied back.

"Um, this morning when your mom and I were on our way to the camp and stuff, the carpool driver drove in front of a cemetery." Helga told him, and Arnold frowned a bit, "Then I saw your mom crying. I'm sorry for asking this but, I-I just really want to know… why is she crying?"

Arnold knew she would ask him this question sooner or later eventually, but he never actually prepared an answer for her. He always felt uneasy every time when he thought about it. With a depressed sigh, and after pondering for a good answer to give her he replied, "It's the little grave under that big tree, isn't it?"

Helga nodded weakly, greatly anticipating for an answer.

"That grave is where my little brother resides." Arnold said solemnly. "He was born prematuredly. He was born back when I was in the States and when my parents were trapped in this country. And because of the lack of modern equipment, not to mention how scarce it was to obtain food on that time, he was underfed and malnourished, and died a week later after his birth. Sad thing is… I never got to see him… there isn't even a picture, o-or a video of him…" he said weakly as he hung his head somberly.

Helga now felt a lot guilty for asking him that. She too lowered her head in sadness and in respect of Arnold's brother, and said, "I'm… I-I'm sorry I asked…"

"Nah… it's okay…" He shot a weak smile at her, "You're just curious. But promise me that you're not going to talk about it in front of my parents okay? They still haven't gotten through with it. It's still a… 'touchy' subject to them."

"I understand." Helga nodded, "Thanks for telling me."

"Yeah." He said as he got up from his seat, "See you at dinner Helga."

"Yeah, see ya." Helga replied back. And with that, Arnold closed the door behind him and walked over to the kitchen to help his mother. Helga meanwhile, drifted in her own thoughts as she lied on the mattress, thinking about her own problems. But still, Arnold's story still occupied in her mind.

---

_Two days later, few hours before noon…_

The sun was so blisteringly hot today that the workers and archeologists at the excavation site were allowed to receive an early break. Using all of his strength, Miles forcefully tried to climb out from the excavation pit he was working, but fell back into the pit again when he misplaced his foot due to his clumsiness. But still he persisted, climbed up again, being successful at it, and trudged to the nearest tent with his limped leg where he could rest for a moment and to take shelter from the hot sun. He raised a hand to greet at the workers who were resting on the ground in front of the tent. He went in.

It was a large tent that so much as twelve people could fit into it. But the tent wasn't used for camping purposes, because it was being used as an office where maps and ancient scriptures were being deciphered before a digging expedition was conducted. There was a large wooden table in the middle where stationeries, maps, scriptures, a phone and a laptop resided on it and a few broken chairs scattered around the table. There was an icebox on the left corner of the tent, and Miles went to it and took a bottle of drinking water out. He then poured some to his face to cool down and drank what was left of the water in the bottle. After wiping the water off his face he then joined Eduardo to begin studying one of the scriptures on the table to search for more clues about the ancient complex they were researching. Diligent as ever.

The phone rang. Eduardo rolled his eyes in annoyance and answered it. "_Hola_."

_"Ah, Sr Eduardo. _ _¿Miles está ahí?"_ the person on the phone said.

Eduardo recognized the voice, _"Sí, aquí está."_ Eduardo replied, and he put his palm over the receiver, "My friend, it's a phone call from the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs."

"What? Not again…" Miles said in disbelief as he took the phone away from him, _"Hola, Sr Miguel. __¿__Puedo ayudarlo?"_

"**Have you received the email that I sent to you?" **

Miles then looked at the laptop at the end of the table. It had been idle and in standby mode for hours on end since morning. **"Uh… I haven't checked my email yet."**

"**Then I suggest you to do it now. I think we have a situation here."**

"**Señor Miguel, look,"**Miles sighed, **"We've been through this many times already. My government will recognize your country sometime this week, I promise. And I'd like to remind you again that although I am the unofficial United States ambassador as of now, I don't actually wield any—"**

"**No, no… it's not that."** The Secretary replied, cutting him off, **"A family in America just emailed my department saying that one of their children ran away to San Lorenzo."**

"**Say _WHAT_?"** Miles exploded. **"What do you mean?"**

"**We are shocked as well. Just now, about two hours ago, the father of the missing child called us to ask us about his daughter. He sounded very worried, but that's natural I guess, considering that his daughter suddenly ran away from home and all. That's why we really need your help, seeing that you're one of the only few Americans living in here. I've forwarded you the email that the family sent to me, and I greatly expecting for your answer."**

"**Okay, okay… I'll call you later if anything turns out."** he said exasperatedly while rubbing his forehead.

"**Make sure." **And the conversation ended. Miles gave the phone receiver back to Eduardo, and he banged his head softly on the makeshift wooden table. "Helga…" he said her name repeatedly through his clenched teeth in angered discontent.

"Is there something wrong, my friend?" Eduardo asked him concernedly while watching Miles continuously banged his head. But Miles didn't answer him, and he got up from his seat and went over to the laptop at the end of the table. The computer went back online again, and quickly he logged into his email account to check the email that Señor Miguel just sent to him.

_Hola Señor Miles,_

_Esta mañana recibimos un email de una familia Americana que afirma que su hija huyó de su país con destino a San Lorenzo. Tengo a mis muchachos en el aeropuerto revisando la lista de visitantes para averiguar si es cierto. También le mando el email que recibimos de la familia. Por favor ayude a encontrar a su hija.  
_

_Miguel de la Serna,  
Secretario de Asuntos Exteriores._

The letter was asking for Miles' participation to help them. He narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "_The letter was sent two days ago!" _Miles shouted in his mind, _"How come only now they just received it?" _he then paused, and told himself, _"Oh yeah… either the power was down in Bolivar or the server exploded again…"_

Miles read the letter again and again. His assumption was true. Helga _did_ run away from home. He then read the forwarded email that Miguel sent to him.

_Dear Ma'am or Sir,_

_We, a family from the United States beg the Government of San Lorenzo for help. It has come to our attention that the youngest member of our family, Helga Geraldine Pataki ran away to your country for an unknown worrisome reason. We implore the Government of San Lorenzo to inform their authorities to search for our beloved family member._

_Helga Pataki is identified as a fifteen to sixteen year old slim Caucasian girl with short shoulder-length blond hair and dark brown eyes. Her height is around 5 ft 4 in or 162 cm. She was last seen in Hillwood International Airport taking a flight to San Lorenzo two days ago. There is also a report that she stopped by at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica for an interchanging flight. If you have any information regarding her at all, please inform us as soon as possible as we are deeply concerned about her. You can contact us by our residential phone number and the email address that we are using now. We extend our gratitude to the government and the people of San Lorenzo for helping us finding her. Thank you._

_Written by Olga Pataki on behalf of my parents, Bob and Miriam Pataki._

And that letter totally, undeniably confirmed his assumption that Arnold's guest, Helga Pataki indeed had run away from home. Not wasting any more time, he quickly grabbed the phone and called his wife, back at the Red Cross Camp South.

---

The phone rang, creating a racket in the otherwise quiet sick camp. And on this hour, most of the camp's staff was busy with their patients or rather too lazy to pick the phone up. The only person who was really, really idle and the nearest to the phone was Helga – she was helping a nurse in preparing to give an injection to one of her patients at that time. After two days, Helga seemed had got the hang of it, helping the Red Cross staff doing various jobs, ranging from restraining a panicking patient down to the bed to talking to the patients to lift their spirits up. She also had picked up a few Spanish words during her time there, thanks to some of the nurses and some of the patients who were willing to teach her some.

"Helga, pick up the phone will you? My hands are full right now." Stella said to her, yelling across the room.

"But I'm helping—"

"Just go." The nurse who she was helping ordered, "I can take this my own." She replied in broken English somewhat.

With the order was put onto her, she just nodded and she quickly walked over to the phone located on the desk of the head doctor of the camp.

"_Hola?" _Helga greeted. It was also the one of the two Spanish words she knew before coming to San Lorenzo.

"**Hi, can I speak to Stella?"** the caller replied back.

This startled Helga, as she did not understand a word the caller said. Without any choice, she had to reply back in English, in hoping that the caller would understand her a little bit. "I'm sorry, I don't understand you. If you j-just could hold on for a second, I'll be—"

"Helga? Helga is that you?" the caller asked in English, much to Helga's delight that the language barrier was no concern of her now.

"Uh… yes… it's me." She replied somewhat reluctantly. "Who's calling?"

"It's me, Miles. Is my wife there?" he asked again.

Helga turned around and looked at Stella. She was attending a very weak patient right now. "Helga, come here right _now_!" she shouted at her urgently, demanding her presence. By now, nurses came rushing to Stella to help her, setting a panicking scene in the camp. Helga was no exception. She too had the urge to help Stella right now.

"Yeah, yeah." She replied in a hastened, panicking tone. "She's pretty busy right now."

"Helga, come down _here_!" Stella shouted again, making Helga more and more nervous and tense.

"I'm sorry, you just have to call us back!" She then just abruptly threw the receiver away and quickly ran to Stella's aid. Miles could hear the weak indistinct voice coming from the phone. It sounded panicky, disoriented and nerve-wracking. He knew what was happening down there at the camp. He had heard scenes like that many times already that they made him depressed a lot, thinking about the suffered person and just how many times his wife had to go through with situation like that over and over again. He then slowly put the phone down, and sighed. He hung his head down, and put his hands at the back of his head with the elbows on the table.

After ten minutes or so, Miles' phone rang back again. With an unwilling sigh, he picked it up and greeted in a depressed tone, "_Hola?" _

"Miles, it's me." Stella replied, also in a weak, somber tone, nearly identical to her husband's.

"That day happened again, huh?" Miles asked back, as he rubbed his forehead.

"It happens all the time… just forget about it…" Stella sighed back, "So, Helga told me that you called. What is it?"

Miles didn't answer back.

"Honey, just forget about it." his wife said again, to reassure him.

After much uneasy thoughts about the scene that he just heard over the phone, and tried to forget it, he replied, "Yeah… I just received a phone call from Miguel."

"Oh." Stella scoffed, "Didn't you already told him that our government—"

"Yeah, yeah, I did." He cut her off, "But it's about something else. The Foreign Affairs Department just got an email from a family in the States."

Stella gasped in shock, "You mean…"

"The Patakis sent an email." Miles said, "Bob also called the Department couple of hours ago."

Stella was in shock. She turned around and looked at Helga. She was sitting on one of the unoccupied bed, looking completely tense and distraught right now as tears ran down from her eyes. The old lady that she had a conversation with couple of days ago tried to get out from her bed and walk over to her to comfort and console her. But because of her condition, one of the nurses quickly ran to her and tried to put her back to bed. But the old lady persisted, and finally the nurse complied. She then brought the old lady over to Helga and the young girl quickly embraced her as the old lady accepted her embrace, to comfort her and gave her strength.

"What do you want me to do? Tell her that her dad called just now?" Stella replied back, "I know we should, but I think this isn't the right time, Miles." Stella too, like her husband, wanted to tell Helga about it. But her motherly instincts kept repeating again and again that she shouldn't.

"Stella," Miles sighed, "I'm sick and tired of you telling me that this isn't the right time over and over. So _when is_ the right time, then?" he said almost yelling.

"Don't you _dare_ raise your voice at me Miles!" Stella retorted back. But then, her voice became softer, "Please, trust me on this. Please have patience."

Miles sighed back. Though he really opposed his wife's decision to keep it mum, he trusted her decision. After all, it was mostly his wife's decisions that kept them alive during their numerous adventures together, "All right." He said in aggravation, "I trust you. I'm forwarding this email that the Patakis sent to you just in case. But so you know, even my patience has limits…"

"Don't worry." Stella replied back, "I love you." She gave an effort to calm her husband up.

Miles' burning heart cooled down a bit after he heard that. He never seemed to get tired when his wife said that. Those simple words would always calm and soothe him. But still, even with those words etched in his heart and mind, he was still displeased at his wife's decision. With a groaning disappointed sigh, he replied to her, "Yeah… love you too." And he put the phone down.

Stella did the same. She herself didn't know why she wanted to delay this agenda regarding Helga. Maybe it was because she saw something in Arnold and Helga that she wanted to learn more about. Or maybe it was because of Helga's behavior, that she wouldn't want her to contact her family right now since Stella saw fear in her eyes. She then turned to Helga, who was being consoled by the old lady.

"Are you still with me, child?" the old lady asked in a warm, comforting voice, as she hugged her and stroked Helga's hair gently.

Still crying, she replied with a broken, sobbing voice, "Helga. Call me Helga."

The old lady smiled softly back at her. Right now, she knew that she had finally gain Helga's trust. Before that, they would only talk with each other without saying each other's name. Maybe right now Helga would opened up to her, bit by bit, and the old lady would assist her the best she could to get her through her troubled times. Gently, she put a thumb slightly below Helga's left eye, and wiped a tear away. The old lady smiled at her, and said, "And you can call me Mona."

They both share a soft laughter together.

* * *

Finally I got to write in Miles' clumsiness after being absent for nine chapters. Arnold's brother is something I add to make Arnold's character more tragic, and hope I got Helga's description right. Gah, I added so much stuff in this story and I don't even know how I'm going tie up the loose ends! I'm sooo screwed... And I really, REALLY need help for someone to translate some of the Miguel-Miles dialogue to Spanish. Any kind of help is appreciated! I hope this chapter is worth the wait, and please review it. And my profile's updated, y0! Check it!  



	11. Decision

_Author's Note: _Before we proceed, I want to ask something. I've been reading the some of the past chapters a few times, and I find it kind of depressing - especially the last one. Do any of you feel the same way as I do? Because if it is, I'd gladly tone it down a bit. Okay, now that's off my chest, time to say a few things about this chapter. Heh, yeah the brother thing is pretty much easy since the foreshadowing is very obvious. I need to think up more ways to make the readers guess what's gonna happen next. :) And about Mona... yeah, I've completely forgotten about the bus driver's girlfriend, oh boy. But, in this fic the Mona depicted isn't the same Mona in the movie, she's actually a character in the novel that I mentioned earlier, but she's not an old lady though. And thanks for the Spanish translations, man! And with 'Changing of the Guards' is over (my other fic) this fic can finally be updated quicker than usual! Hopefully. If I could just stop procrastinate... meh, maybe later.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 11: Decision

"I've never seen something like that in my entire life before…" Helga said weakly, as Mona comforted her by stroking her hair gently again and again, "It happened right in front of my eyes too… it's so scary…"

"Well child…" Mona replied back, sighing, "If you live for nearly 50 years in this country like I do, you've seen more than enough." She lowered her head. She looked at Helga again, and asked, "So tell me Helga, why are you here? Why did you leave home to go to this godforsaken place? Does a country riddled with pestilence, decay and unending conflict excites you?"

Helga was stunned at her question. Nothing had prepared her to answer a question such as that. It had never occurred to her that San Lorenzo was this terrible before. She originally came here not to witness the deplorable conditions of San Lorenzo, but to seek help from her childhood friend, to have him listen to her and comfort her in her time of needs. But right now, she felt guilty that she felt so selfish because she wanted the center of attention to be on her, instead of the people that surrounded her. Obviously they were the ones that needed help more than her. Helga chocked, sniffed and replied, "I'm so sorry…" she replied, sobbing, "I came down here not because I'm interested in helping this country, but I want someone to help me out…"

Mona nodded.

"But now… I don't even _know_ why am I here!" She cried brokenly, "I haven't told anybody my problems are yet… or asking _him_ to help me with my troubles… and I feel so powerless to help these people…" Helga cried on Mona's lap as she told her the predicament she was facing. Mona was intrigued when she said 'him' to her. Who was this 'him', she thought to herself. "There, there now, child." She lifted Helga up and hugged her to give a sense of security. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me about your problems, because I think you already have someone in your mind that you are willing to tell your troubles to instead of me…"

After listening to Mona's last question, Helga had wondered if Arnold even wanted to help her out since he had other, bigger things to do. She lifted her head away from her and asked, "But what if he wouldn't help me?" she replied as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"How long have you known… this person?" Mona asked back.

Helga sniffed, and replied back, "A very long time… but I don't know if he wanted to help me…"

"If you've known him for a very long time, then I suppose he's a very good companion, no?" Mona asked her, "You trust him, don't you? He must be a very special person to you since you're brave enough to travel half across the world just to see him…" she said with a warm voice, smiling at Helga. Helga looked at her back, beginning to chuckle softly. "I'm very sure he's willing to hear you out."

Helga laughed softly and replied, "Thanks Mona…" and she gave her a hug again. To Mona, this was close as she could get to have a granddaughter of her own. Mona too, had tears rolled down from her eyes as she embraced Helga tightly.

"Helga, our van is arriving anytime now, so I—" Stella stopped when she saw Helga being comforted by the malaria stricken old lady. It didn't worry her however since the disease couldn't be transmitted by close proximity gesture of any kind. She developed a bit of smile as she looked at them. Maybe it was a good idea to have Helga around the sick camp. She did her job commendably. Stella then supposed that they should hang around for a while with each other, and only when their carpool van arrived, then she would call her out.

---

The time was a quarter before 7PM, and Arnold still hadn't moved himself out of the chair he was sitting since four in the afternoon. He just sat there, with his left cheek on the table, staring at a book in front of him, while tapping a pen on it repeatedly. He was bored out of his skull. There were stacks of books, all three of them around his head. The books hadn't been opened once. The table he sat at was a very long table, old, wobbly at times, but strong nonetheless. And the wooden chair that he sat on was more or less the same condition too. There was nothing but silence, with the exception of the low tone hum of the air vent above him, with the occasional cough coming from it once in a while. A girl, almost as old as him, walked pass behind him and went over to a bookshelf. She looked at Arnold and shook her head in disbelief. **_"What is he doing in this library, anyway?" _**she thought to herself.

Arnold was in San Lorenzo's only library to do research for his home schooling assignment. He thought that it would be better to go to the library once in a while to study, rather than getting cooped up in his house staring at the computer screen for hours on end. But after 20 minutes or so after he started studying, all the enthusiasm died down since he could not find anything interesting to put in his assignment, so he just picked up some random old books –relics from the San Lorenzo's Communist era, and built some sort of a fort around his head. During the idle time that quickly passed by without him noticing it, he had been doing a lot of thinking, and it mostly about Helga.

Arnold reminisce his memories in the past few days about her, and he thought that he had an absolutely fantastic time with her. He smiled when he remembered the time when he first saw her in front of his house, or the time when he took her on a tour of his adopted country, and the time where they were spending together on top of that beautiful hill. And in those places where he collected the memories, he felt that he had discovered a new Helga, something that he had felt about her ever since they were in grade school: a caring, compassionate, friendly, and kind version of Helga Pataki. Could this be that he actually began to fall for her?

It was already dark outside, but still, Arnold didn't notice it. Then there was a bright flash of lightning coming from the window and a loud thunder was heard soon after that. Arnold instantly got up from his daydreaming upon hearing the cracking sound. He looked at the window, and it began to rain. It hadn't been raining since two weeks ago, and by now he thought, all the sugar cane and cacao cultivators in the country were really happy right now. It was a heavy rain at that, too. A tropical torrential rain. Water began to drip into the library from the holes up on the roof and library staffs quickly scrambled over to hold the water in readily available buckets that they have prepared if such occasions happened. Arnold gave them a lending hand too. After the librarians said thanks to him, he looked at the clock.

HOLY CRAP! He should've head home an hour ago! That's what you get for having your head so high in the clouds. Now with the day quickly turning to night, with the rain pouring and the dirt road would get wet and unstable, it would be impossible for him just to navigate through the jungles. But he had to, or else he wouldn't have the chance to go home today, and was forced to spend a night in Bolivar, was something he _really_ didn't want to. He quickly ran to his seat and picked his stuff up and dashed out from the library, braving the rain and into his jeep. He closed the door shut and took a very deep breath. He was completely drenched in rainwater right now. After catching up with his breath, he started the engine and drove away.

"Aw nuts, I forgot to put the books back…" he said to himself as he smacked the steering wheel in front him. It was too late for him to drive back there, because he wanted to go home as soon as possible. The jeep splashed some mud and dirt away as Arnold zoomed through the jungle, hitting branches and leaves from right and left. There was some instance where he got one of the wheels stuck on the mud, but after flooring the gas pedal repeatedly, the jeep moved again. Hopefully he'll survive this dangerous episode, he thought to himself as he shifted the gear up.

---

The van stopped right in front of Arnold's family's residence and Stella and Helga quickly ran to the house while protecting themselves from the rain by putting only their hands on top of their head. They didn't even know why they even bothered doing it, as ineffective as it sounded. After they managed to get back into the house, the both of them quickly ran to their towels to dry themselves up. As Helga wiped herself dry, she saw the answering machine beeping. "Mrs.—"

Thunder cracked loudly.

"Yes, Helga?" Stella replied back from her room.

"The answering machine is beeping."

"Well, please be a dear and go see who called, okay?" Stella said back. Helga then pushed a button on the machine.

"You have one new message. First Message:" the computerized voice said. It was then replaced by Miles' voice, "Stella? Anyone there in the house? Well, I guess I have to come home late today until after the storm is over. Sorry." Then there was a beep. "End message."

"Well, who was it?" Stella asked back.

"It's Mr.—" thunder cracked again. "He'll be coming back late." Helga let a soft sigh, put her towel on the computer chair and sat on the mattress. She then crawled to her pillow and rested her head on it. After the talk with Mona, she had been thinking about Arnold a lot. It had been about five days now since her arrival in San Lorenzo, and in that short period of time, she had learned pretty much about everything. She learned that there was so much suffering in other parts of the world. She learned that she wasn't the only one in the world who had problems. She also learned that in spite of it all, every cloud has a silver lining. And for coming to San Lorenzo, she felt that it was a blessing.

She also learned that Arnold was still the same boy she recognized, someone that she knew very well and whom she really loved. But did she now have the strength to tell Arnold about her dilemma she was facing right now? Five days. Five days in this country and she hadn't told anybody about her problems yet, not to even the ones who were close to her. She knew she couldn't hold it forever, and since she promised herself that she wanted Arnold to be first to learn about her problems, she would tell him at the very first chance given. She was determined. She made her decision. She would tell him today. Speaking of Arnold, he was supposed to be home at this time of hour…

And the horribly bad weather didn't make her feelings any better too. All sorts of crazy thoughts began to develop in Helga's mind. With the addition of the unfortunate incident that happened in the sick camp being inserted into her thoughts about Arnold, it made her became tense and worried about her love. She tried to repel them off, but was met with futile results. She tried harder, but she couldn't. At last, she couldn't help but to cry again. But despite of it, her heart and instincts told her that he'd be fine. And she hoped and prayed that it would stay that way.

Stella knocked her door and opened it, "Helga?" she called softly. Helga turned around and looked at Stella with her saddened face. Stella understood, she was worried about her family too. "They'll be all right." Stella nodded weakly, "Miles is staying put at the site and Arnold is an excellent driver. They'll be home soon." She said to calm herself, and Helga up. But Helga didn't share her optimism, and could only reply her back with a skeptical and worried smile.

Stella looked at her back. Maybe the images from the sick camp still hadn't gone out from her thoughts. She then said to her in a warm, comforting voice, "You want to talk about something?" Helga shook her head. Still, Stella didn't give up, "I'm willing to help." Helga shook her head again. Stella let a soft sigh, and understood that Helga needed to be alone for a while. Or maybe, she'd rather have Arnold to talk with her, Stella thought to herself. "If you need me, I'll be in the living room."

Helga finally nodded weakly, and replied, "Thanks." And Stella closed the door softly behind her.

---

It had been half hour past eight, and the torrential tropical rain finally began to weaken, but Arnold and Miles still hadn't arrived home yet. This worried Helga and Stella a lot. Stella was sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming cup of java in front of her. Helga still hadn't gone out from her room. She just sat at the wide opened window of her room, looking outside forlornly. The sound of the falling rainwater, the occasional thunder and wind howling were the only thing that accompanied her in her loneliness. Sanctuary.

Amidst the rainfall, Stella could vaguely hear an engine sound coming from outside of the house. Helga on the other hand couldn't hear a thing because the door to her room was closed and loud noise of the water falling from the rain gutter dimmed the sound of the engine. Stella quickly opened the door and to her relief that her son just made it back home. He switched off the light, and he quickly made his way into his house.

"Arnold! Thank goodness, I'm so worried!" Stella heaved a sigh of relief as she looked at her son completely soaked in rainwater. She then gave him a towel to dry himself off.

"Yeah mom, thanks." Arnold replied back as he closed the door behind him. "Wow, I never really thought that I made it home safely, trying to outrun the rain and all…" Suddenly his mom smacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" Arnold rubbed his head, "What the heck was that for?"

"Are you being stupid? You could've get killed Arnold!" his mom replied back. "You know better than to drive under those conditions! You could've got lost, or… buried under a mudslide or… fell into a gorge!" Typical for a mother bring so overly concern about her son.

Arnold raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "What? C'mon mom! You know they have a kill-on-sight curfew in Bolivar after eight! I don't want to get shot nor have the military men to confiscate the jeep!"

"Does it ever occur to you to head to the traveler's hostel, spend a night there for a while and call me after that?" Stella yelled back. Arnold was lost on words to reply back. His mother was right after all. He had always hated it when his mother stumped him. Stella expression changed, from an angry disbelief to calm relief. "Look Arnold, I'm sorry." She replied back, sighing. "I'm just so glad you're all right."

"No mom," Arnold replied back, raising his palm as to say no to her, "You were right. I'm stupid for doing that." Then he chuckled disbelievingly, "What was I thinking? I could've killed myself!" he slapped his forehead as he turned away from his mother. Stella looked at her son and began to develop a weak smile. She was in disbelief of Arnold. He may be dumb, but at least he was safe. Or maybe there was a reason why did he blindly following his instincts, cheating death and all that. Maybe it had something to do with Helga?

"Arnold," Stella said, "Helga is feeling down today…"

Arnold immediately turned around, showing her a concerned face, "Why? What happened to her?" he asked.

"Come here and sit with me." She brought him to the kitchen table and sat on opposite of each other. Arnold was perplexed. Stella gazed at her son deeply. After a while and much contemplation, she said to him, "She's very distraught."

Arnold furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why is she behaving like that?" he asked.

Stella sighed deeply, and replied, "She saw something terrible happened today. I wanted to help her, but she just wouldn't want to tell me about it."

Arnold nodded in understanding. "What should I do?"

"Go to her." Stella replied softly. "I have a feeling that she's going to tell you something more than just the thing she saw today. She needs you more than ever."

He was stunned. "But why me?" he asked back. "Why not someone else?"

"Because she knows you the most. She trusts you."

"But, what about you?" Arnold asked back, "Shouldn't she need a motherly comfort now more than ever?"

"Arnold, as a mother, my instincts tells me that she needs you now."

Arnold gazed back at his mother, full in thought. And then he nodded in agreement with his mother instincts, and slowly got up from his seat. Stella looked at him as he walked pass her. She then let out a weak sigh and questioned her instincts whether this was the right decision to do. She was skeptical herself. But she trusted her instincts and decided that she should let Arnold confront Helga alone without her intervening. Probably, this would be the best way if they ever wanted to help Helga about her problems and to know why she chose San Lorenzo to run away.

Arnold stood in front of Helga's door but did nothing. He then let out a soft sigh, and raised his fist to knock the door. But just before his fist hit the door, he stopped, and turned to Stella, looking at her. He wanted a reassurance from her. Stella nodded weakly. He then responded by nodding at her back and finally he knocked the door.

There was no answer. Arnold tried again.

Still, there was no answer.

"Helga? It's me, Arnold."

Still no answer. After a lengthy pause, Arnold then decided that he just should open it, with or without Helga's permission. After he took a long breath, he then opened the door up. Thankfully it didn't meet with any resistance from Helga. He went in, and closed the door. After seeing his son out of her sight, Stella buried her head inside of her crossed arms on the table and hoped for the best.

---

Helga was seen at the window as she rested her left arm that she put on the frame, with her chin on it. She wasn't seemed to be disturbed by Arnold's presence inside the room. She continued to stare blankly at the sight with her dejected and forlorn face. Arnold stepped forward slowly. Helga still didn't move. She must be extraordinarily sad, Arnold thought to himself. He never saw Helga behaved like this before in his entire life. There must something that really disturbed her if she was this wistful. Arnold took a deep breath, and proceeded to sit on the computer chair. He stared at her for a while and said:

"Helga…"

"I'm glad you're back…" she interjected suddenly. But her tone didn't sound welcoming, but rather, sorrowful.

"Thanks." Arnold replied softly. "Is there something bothering you?" he tried to ease his way in. But Helga didn't answer back. Having hearing no answer from her, he tried again. "I might help you out."

"Tch." Helga scoffed. "Help? And just _how_ are you going to help me?"

Arnold was stunned since this pretty much was a hostile response from Helga. "Well, if you could just tell your problems…" he replied calmly, "I'll be—"

"Typical of you." Helga said back. A tear started rolling down from her eye. After a sob, she continued again, "Tell me… just how you _endured_ all the misery of this place?" The question stunned Arnold. "You want to know what happened to me today…?" she chocked as she turned to him, "I saw someone _died_ today Arnold! Right in front of my eyes! It's so terrifying! He was gasping for breath, and blood and—" and at this moment, Arnold quickly ran to her and hugged her tightly to give her comfort, security and to calm her down.

Stella got up from her seat upon indistinctly hearing Helga crying. She walked hastily to the room to make sure whether she was okay. But as soon as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she stopped immediately, thinking about Arnold. She made her decision. She then slowly lifted her hand away from the knob, and put it far away from it. She reassured herself again that her son had the situation being handled perfectly. She then took a deep breath, and slowly walked over to her room and closed the door.

"It's okay… it's okay." Arnold tried to soothe her. Helga continued to cry on his shoulder, babbling melancholically about the incident. He repeatedly asked her to calm down again and again. And after much assurance, Helga began to calm down somewhat, and slowly released her grasp from Arnold. He then brought her to the mattress and sat with her. Arnold waited for her to calm down as he watched her sob and cry. He too began to feel stressed and sympathized with her. After he was convinced that Helga had finally quiet down, Arnold let a sigh out and answered her question.

"Helga, San Lorenzo isn't a tropical paradise. It's not a utopia. It's full of many horrible stories that you can think of. Everything, from genocide, pestilence to extreme famine has occurred here. But despite of all the sad, miserable stories, I'm able to cope with it because I find myself fortunate and to my comfort that I have my family here, and it makes me happy every time when I see a smile on a person's face when you know that you've help them. It shows that their burden, even by a miniscule, has been lifted. And what you do at my mother's camp – helping all those unfortunate people, is a very thoughtful thing to do."

Helga began to brighten a bit, as she sniffed.

"Even by helping them a little you've a made a huge difference in their lives." He smiled at her, "I'm very proud of you."

Helga chuckled at the statement. He had such a way with words. And with this particular conversation it made Helga convinced that Arnold would be able to help with her personal problem that was the reason why she left home. "Thanks Arnold…" she spoke softly. Arnold smiled back at her. She made her decision: she wanted to tell him now, without any hesitation or reluctance.

"Arnold, you're lucky to have your family to give you comfort…" she said, "but me… do you want to know the reason why am I here?"

* * *

Yet another cliffhanger. I hate myself for doing that. I think some of you may complain about the many tearjerking moments from Helga and might argue she may be a _teency-weency_ bit out of character. She's a tough girl, you may say. Well, while I do agree, but consider this: she just saw a very terrifiying occurence developed before her eyes and it can be traumatizing. But Arnold is there for her, doing the best he can to help her. Chemistry rocks! Well, that's enough from me. Enjoy it, and please leave a review.  



	12. Truth

_Author's Note:_ College sucks. Assignments, tests and tutorials drove me insane these past several weeks. Nearly a month, apparently. And you guys thought I abandoned this story. Shame on you. So here's another addition to the story, extra long to compensate the long update delay. It's the middle part and also a focal plot point of this story that ties up most of the questions of why Helga ran away from home. I really am dreadful about this chapter, because this is the most important chapter of this story and if I screwed up I will have no chance of redeeming myself back. What's worse, I feel like I'm not doing it right, since I didn't touch this story for weeks and I think my skills are kinda rusty as I wrote it. _Please _give me some feedback.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 12: Truth

"I'm sick of living inside of my house. Every day is a nightmare to me." she said sullenly. "Bob and Miriam had been fighting since… honestly, I've lost count. Days… weeks maybe… I mean, it's really painful to hear them fight. And it's really hard for me to put up with…" she paused a while and scoffed, "Tch, I—" thunder cracked, "ing hated it."

Arnold nodded morosely, "I'm sorry to hear that. If you don't mind I'm asking, why do they fight?"

Helga scoffed back and replied, "You think I care?" she raised her voice, "Bob and Miriam aren't exactly what I would call 'Model Parents' with them continue to ignore my retched existence and being so terribly inept at parenting. Well… maybe I'm being too hard on my mom, she's not that bad. Besides, you put yourself in my shoes Arnold. If you heard your parents fighting and arguing vehemently with vitriolic remarks, would you really want to know why?"

Arnold shook his head weakly in understanding and replied, "No… I really wouldn't want to."

Helga nodded back, thinking that she made her point, "I could hear them arguing from my room." She continued weakly, "I think the neighbors could hear them too. Bob usually is the first one who makes the attacks, and leaving Miriam to refute back, futilely. You know how big of a hothead Bob is. I usually don't care much when they fight… but this time, it really hurts…" Helga's eyes started to brim with tears again. "It's absolutely terrible. I could hear screaming, yelling, cursing… I don't know what are they are fighting about and I'm sure don't want to find out. I even heard rumors from my neighbors that Bob's cheating on Miriam. I don't know whether it's true or not, but it's totally screwed up. And alas, I got tired of it that I couldn't bear with them anymore, and I really don't like living in that house, so I ran to Olga's place for a while."

"You stayed there?" Arnold asked her.

"Unfortunately no. She just moved in the new apartment with her husband so a lot of things haven't been unpacked yet and I really don't want to disturb them. 'Sides, their house is far away from school and work and I couldn't afford to be late. I usually hang out at their place after work and would return back home around 11 or so when the house is quiet a bit. I did tell her about Bob and Miriam but with she being a big daddy's girl and all it's difficult for her to understand my problem. She never seems to care about me and always sided with Bob when I talk to her about the fight he's having with Miriam. God, that sister of mine is a _stupid, dumb,_ _idiot_!" She said angrily through her clenched teeth.

"She remains oblivious?"

"Are you kidding? Every time when I told her about Bob, she'd always refute to me back that I shouldn't talk that way about him, and told me that he acts like that because he was having a bad day… or something similarly inane to that stupid excuse. She's totally hopeless." She shook her head. "But despite of her being oblivious of the ordeal I'm having, I continue to hang out at their place until late at night each and every day. Then one day, I decided to come home early. God, I was so stupid for making that decision."

"What happened?" Arnold asked her.

With a morose voice, she replied back to him, "I'm still hurt by this. Please bear it with me."

---

_Like always after work, I go to my sister's house to loosen up, you know… watch TV, flirt with her husband and all that, trying to get my mind off from the insanity back home. But one day when I arrived at her house, all I got was note on the door that said she's out to a brainstorming session to do a scene in a new acting gig she just got in some indie play. Her husband wasn't in since he was in Los Angeles at that time. She also said that she could come over to my house after her brainstorming session was over to assure me that everything was fine. Oh… she's in for a surprise let me tell you that. So I just shrugged, took the subway ride back and went to Slausen's for a while to have dinner because I know Miriam won't cook ever since this whole shenanigan began. Man… I should've gone to Phoebe's house but… I don't even know why I didn't. So I went back home._

Even before she steeped inside her house, Helga could hear the screaming and the shouting of her parents fighting. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She could see her neighbor Mr. and Mrs. Martinez through the window looking at her with a sympathized look at the poor girl. Helga was pretty embarrassed actually, knowing that the loud shouting of her parents arguing was heard by the neighbors around her house. She stood in front of the stoop, took a long deep breath and opened the door. She tried to bear the pain.

"Maybe we should help her, dear." Mrs. Martinez said to her husband. "Maybe if we invite her to stay here for a while from Bob and Miriam—"

"Why bother?" Mr. Martinez cut her off, "Don't get me wrong, I'd really want to help her honey, but letting her stay in our house for a while still won't make any difference to her. She still can hear Bob and Miriam arguing."

Trying hard to ignore the fuming quarrel, Helga walked hastily to the stairs to go to her room. All of the sudden Bob turned around and saw her daughter in front of him. He was tired of the endless bickering with his wife, and he needed someone else to take his anger on. Helga was his target.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! You wait just a little second there missy!" he ordered her as he walked out of the living room, leaving an exasperated and frustrated housewife behind for a moment. Helga groaned in annoyance and did what she was ordered.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Bob!" Miriam said to him, "Now you're going to—"

He turned around, pointing at her, "Hey, shut up, Miriam! I'm not done with you yet!"

"What is it now, _Bob_?" Helga asked angrily. "If you want to take your anger out on someone, pick someone else. I really don't have the will to listen to your incoherent nonsense right now."

"You pipe down, little lady." Bob replied back furiously, "Where have you been, huh? Didn't I tell you to come back home in a decent hour?"

Now he just being unreasonable, she thought as she rolled her eyes, "Oh great, since when did you actually care about me?" Helga retorted back, "I've been home late in much later hour than this, Bob. And don't you worry your little head, I was just at Slausen's having dinner, if you're 'concerned' so much about my wellbeing."

"It's still doesn't justify you coming home late!"

"What?" Helga shouted back, "its just 8:30 Bob, and tomorrow is a weekend for crying out loud!"

"Why do you disrespect me, Helga? Huh?" he riposted back, "I'm the one who provide you with shelter under my roof and food for you to eat! And still, you disregard me!"

"I would've respected you if you'd just treat me like your own kid instead of a person who's squatting in your house!"

"You're out of control you know that?" Bob yelled back, "If only you were just as half as good as Olga—"

"No Bob!" Helga retorted back angrily, "You're the one who's out of control, and you're taking it out on me! All I have been hearing these past few weeks are nothing except your incessant garbage and mom and I are the one who're the victims of your idiotic ramblings! And _stop_ comparing me with Olga! I'm not her! I HATE IT!" she shouted vehemently in a fit of emotional outburst, "Can't you just accept that we are two _completely_ different individuals, huh? I don't even _want_ to be like her! She's not the only daughter that you have, you know!"

"You're my kid, you know that!" he yelled fumingly, "I can shape you to whoever I want! If I can do it to Olga, then certainly I can do it to you! If you behaved just like her, then none of this crap would've happen!"

Helga narrowed her eyes and gazed at Bob deeply in the eyes in a fit of bravery and nearly suicidal, "Well, sorry to disappoint _Bob_, but you've _failed_, and I'll _never_ going to be like her." She said through her clenched teeth. The angry and furious gaze between them lasted a few seconds before Helga turned around and climbed the stairs. As she trudged up, a tear rolled down from her eyes, and she wiped it of with her hands.

Yet, Bob still wouldn't want to admit defeat. He raised his hand and pointed to her threateningly, "This conversation isn't over, young lady. After I'm done with Miriam, you're next." Helga didn't turn around nor answer her father back. She just ran straight to her room, slammed the door and went to her bed, hugging the pillow as she cried on it.

After the commotion was over, Bob placed both of hands on his waist and sighed. Miriam shook her head in disbelief that Bob actually dragged Helga along into this ridiculous fight. Building some nerve and after taking a deep breath, Miriam said to Bob, "Why'd you do that Bob?"

Bob turned around and looked at his wife with a piercing gaze, "The heck you're talking about?"

"Oh, yeah." She threw her arms as she scoffed, "like you don't know. Leave her out of this. This is between us. If you want to throw a fit, throw it on me, not on her."

"What? I was just trying to handle that kid." He retorted back. "Don't you tell me on how I am supposed to deal with my own kid!"

"I'm her _mother_, Bob!" Miriam yelled back, "I have just as much responsibility as you do to raise our child! You know, Helga's right, you know that? You're out of control. You're a bully who's been picking on some hapless people and _you_, picked that innocent girl to be your victim!"

"That's a load of crap, Miriam!" Bob retorted back. Thus it commenced a new round of fight between them again. But this time around, it centered on Helga, and it was much more venomous than their previous argument. As Helga thought of her miserable dilemma she was facing, it was disturbed by the arguing of her parents downstairs. She then tried to mute them out by putting the pillow over her, but it did little to suppress it down. Helga could feel that the argument was a bit odd than usual. She couldn't believe that Miriam was actually defending her from Bob, and that made her happy a bit to know that her mother cared about her. But despite her mother's best efforts, it was shot down by Bob multiple times. It made Helga feel defensive of her mother. She wanted to help her out.

Though she was quite reluctant at first, she felt obligated to help her mother because of what she had done to defend her from Bob. Her feelings about her mother, in a sense, changed. Helga wiped all her tears away with her hand, and slowly got out from her bed. She had her hand holding the knob, but before she opened the door, she contemplated again on her decision. After much thinking, she quietly opened the door and slowly descended down the stairs.

"It's all your fault!" Bob shouted to Miriam, "This family is better off without her!"

"How dare you Bob!" Miriam shouted angrily back at him, "How dare you talk that way about Helga! She's _your daughter_!"

Helga immediately stopped at her tracks upon hearing the venomous remark from Bob. She was absolutely heartbroken to hear that from her own father. Her own flesh and blood, blaming her for the quandary he was facing. She found herself hard to breathe. She began to expel some breath out quickly from her system in small volume, and she eventually collapsed on the stairs while still held a hand on the handrail. She placed her other hand on her heart, as though she wanted to hold her broken heart from shattering even further. She was extremely upset and tears began to roll down from her eyes. The argument in the living room became more and more intense. Helga moved her body towards a bit to look into the living between the door threshold and the wooden column that supported the handrail. She could see Bob clutching Miriam's arm tightly, like he just stopped her from slapping him.

"M-Mom…?"

And the worst happened. Bob yelled a degrading slur at Miriam and slapped her on the face. The blow was so hard that she fell down to the couch. It made Miriam cry. It was the first time that Bob assaulted her. Helga quickly got up and ran to her, but stopped when Bob turned around, and saw the shocked Helga staring at him in terror. She was stunned, in disbelief, and in horror at what Bob just did to Miriam. She couldn't move, she couldn't open her mouth, and she was too scared to do anything. Bob glared back at her in fury, and in embarrassment. Harshly, he said to her while pointing outside to the stairs, "Get back to your room, _girl._" He said in a rather harsh, threatening tone through his gritting teeth. But Helga still didn't do what she was ordered, as she gazed at her mother, who had her face drowned on the couch, sobbing. She felt so sorry for her.

Challenged by her daughter's defiance of his authority, he scanned around, and saw a pretty looking ceramic vase on a pretty looking table with pretty looking flowers placed inside it. He snatched and abruptly threw it at Helga. "I SAID GO!" Her survival instinct kicked up, and she snapped back up, successfully dodging the projectile. The vase hit the wall behind her and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Miriam cried out loud upon hearing the crash.

"Shut up!" Bob roared with a fit of rage.

Once more, Helga couldn't believe what she just saw. How could her own father did this to her? She realized that Bob was too dangerous to stay with under one roof right now, and so she ran out of the house, bringing her dejectedness and her sorrow along with her. She felt unwanted.

"Fine! Go on! LEAVE! Good riddance! If I ever see you in this house again, I swear I'll kill you!" Bob shouted from inside the house, as Helga ran away as far as he could with her eyes all teary. She needed a shelter. She needed someone to hear her out.

Bob turned around and looked at his wife. "And you…" he said murderously as he pointed at her, "get out of my house. _NOW!_"

---

Tears dropped to the plastic mattress, making a strong, yet soft thudding sound, as Helga told Arnold of her miserable state. Arnold had some brim of tears on his eyes, and he tried to hide it from Helga by turning around and wiped it away. Helga just sniffed back, wiped the tears and continued to tell Arnold her story.

_I didn't know where to go. By that time I felt like I was all alone in the entire world. I had no other people to talk to. I had no other person to drown my sorrow to. I walked up to the nearest bus station and sat on the bench, trying to pull myself together, thinking where I should go now that I am unwelcome at my own house. I don't have many friends, my family is nowhere, and the only person that I could think of at that time was Phoebe. I trust her. Thankfully, I was welcomed._

Phoebe walked down the hallway from the family living room she was in earlier upon hearing the doorbell being rang repeatedly. It kind of ruined her excitement from watching her favorite television show. Hopefully the meeting would be brief. She was surprised to see Helga in front of her, looking extremely miserable.

"Helga? What are you—"

Not giving the opportunity for Phoebe to finish her sentence, Helga quickly embraced her tightly and cried on her shoulder. Phoebe was stunned at first, but gradually accepted her embrace as she hugged her back tightly, in realization that she was in need for help. She was the only person along with her sister that Helga would vent her frustration to. Phoebe had listened to Helga about her problems back home plenty of times, and she could sympathize and understand at her terrible plight.

"Phoebe…" Helga said brokenly… "I feel miserable…"

"It's okay Helga…" Phoebe said, nearing in tears. "You're always welcomed here in my house."

"Phoebe honey?" her mother said as she climbed down the stairs, "Who is— Oh my God. What happened here darlin'?"

"It's Helga, mother." She replied as she turned around to face her mother, "She needs shelter for the moment."

Reba nodded and replied, "My poor, poor dear." She sighed, "Bring her into the livin' room Phoebe. Helga, make yourself at home."

"Mother, I would prefer bringing her into my room."

As Helga wiped her tears away, Phoebe brought her to her room as Reba nodded and walked to the kitchen. Before entering, she stopped at the door and looked at her daughter as she brought Helga up to her room. She let out a depressed sigh and went in. Maybe some green tea would cheer her up, at least a bit.

"Trouble at home, I would presume." Phoebe guessed as she looked at her visitor sobbing on her futon mattress with a melancholic dismay as she sat in front of her on the floor. "I truly sympathize with you."

"Oh come one Pheebs," she scoffed, "My life is already screwed up as it is, I don't need your pity." Phoebe was stunned a bit because the response was pretty cold. Realizing that she just scoffed at Phoebe's pure and honest sympathy, she quickly replied back regretfully, "I'm sorry…" she sniffed, "I shouldn't say that. I'm just really upset over this, I have no one else to turn to."

"It's okay, Helga, no harm done. You can stay here as long as you want if you want to. Would you like me to call your sister and tell her that you're at my house now?"

"Don't bother Pheebs, she's not at home right now, and she always has her cell off every time when she's doing a rehearsal."

Then there was a knock at the door, "Excuse me." Phoebe said to Helga as she got up from the seat and headed towards the door. Reba's smiling face certainly didn't cheer Helga up, or the drinks that she had brought with her.

"I know you're sad right now Helga, having a bad day and all, but just try to calm yourself up, forget all the things that happened just now and hope things will change for the better." She said as she placed the cups in front of Helga and her daughter. "Just call if ya need me 'hun. You must be pretty distraught from all the commotion inside your house."

Helga was kind of surprised to hear that. Story of the chaotic household was spreading like wildfire. She had always thought the awful situation was being shared between close neighbors and no one else. And Phoebe's family wasn't one of her close neighbors.

"She is, mother." Phoebe replied, "She needs rest right now in order to clear her mind for a while. And thank you for the tea."

Reba nodded, and turned to Helga. "Remember Helga. I'm downstairs if ya ever need me." She then exited the room and closed the door behind her. There was an awkward silence between Helga and Phoebe after Reba left the room.

"So, what is your plan of action, Helga?" Phoebe asked her, "What are you going to do?"

"Honestly I don't know." She replied after she took a small sip from the cup, "I thought I might stay at your place for a while… I mean, if you let me of course…"

"Say no more, Helga." her friend replied, smiling a bit. "Like I said before, you're always welcomed here."

"Thanks…" Helga replied weakly. "I really can't stand my parents anymore Phoebe… especially my dad. He's a horrible, horrible human being." Phoebe stopped whatever she was doing upon hearing that from Helga. She knew Bob wasn't the best person around, but coming from Helga, it really meant a lot since she was his daughter.

"Why don't you tell me about it Helga? Who knows… it might make you feel better."

Helga then proceeded to tell her what was going on between her and her family. Her poignant and miserable story touched Phoebe's heart. She admired Helga actually, for simply trying to live through the ordeal. "And then he had the nerve to compare me with my sister." She scoffed, "All my live I've been living under her shadow, and I don't need that from him. I have my own goals, my own targets. Why can't he just accept that I am not like Olga?"

"If I may express my opinion Helga: Despite of having some ups-and-downs, Olga is successful, and your father is proud of having her as a daughter. If you could just emulate her, I'm sure—" and in this realization, Phoebe just stopped abruptly in the middle of her sentence at the thought of the words she used. She let them slip. It wasn't encouraging at all. She just realized that she just agreed with Bob and shot her best friend down. And what was more, with Helga being in a state of emotional stress it would be hard for Phoebe to denounce her own remark.

"Oh my God, Phoebe." She replied in shock. "Please say you didn't just say that…"

"I— I-I'm… so sorry Helga." She replied apologetically, "I didn't mean—"

With a disappointed sigh, and a sad tone, she replied to her, "I guess even you can't help me after all." Helga then suddenly got up and said, "I'm going out. Someplace far away. I need to clear my head for a while."

"Oh Helga, please." Phoebe too got up and went after her friend, "I'm, I'm sorry about what I've just said—"

Helga quickly turned around and snapped angrily at her, "No you're not! Don't fake your sympathy at me, Phoebe! You're just like my father, blindly thinking that Olga is on top of everything else! GOD I HATE HER SO MUCH!" she cried out brokenly, and stormed out of the house.

Phoebe followed her from behind. But even with numerous pleads from Phoebe to ask her to come back, Helga just ignored her and walked hastily away from Phoebe as quickly as possible. But Phoebe finally managed to catch up with her and grabbed her arm, "Helga… please." She pleaded, "Listen to me…"

"No, stay away Phoebe!" Helga violently yanked her arm away from her and fled.

Phoebe still didn't give up, and grabbed her arm again. "Helga please… let me help you…"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" and with a blunt, abrupt, unthinking move, she promptly gave Phoebe a brutal slap across the face, throwing her face away from Helga and her glasses out. Helga gasped in terrified shock, as she put her hand over her mouth, and once again, her eyes began to brim with tears. Phoebe ran her hair behind her ear, and slowly turned around to look at Helga. There was a mark left on her right cheek, a tear ran down from her eye, and a pair of piercing, disappointed and disbelieving eyes gazing poignantly at her.

"Phoebe…" said Helga as she tried to reach her, "I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Just go…" Phoebe replied back morosely as she sobbed. She then turned around and left Helga alone.

_I need to apologize to her for that. And because of my dumb actions, I was shunned by everyone. I felt alone, cold, and lost. I had nobody else to go to. I felt like nobody else was going to help me. And at that moment I suddenly remembered you Arnold. You've always been the thoughtful person who always helps people in the time of their need. I felt the ray of hope was shining onto me. So I went back to my house to get ready, but everything was dark inside._

Helga had made her decision: she decided to go to San Lorenzo to have Arnold help her out in her worst of time. She was in front of her house. Though her gut instincts told her that nobody was in the house, she decided to remain cautious. She went around back and climbed the fence to her backyard. To get to her room from the ground, she had to climb a tree, a feat which she had done many times when she went out late previously time and again. After she successfully went in, she slowly crept to her backpack and emptied it out. Still, she felt unsafe, so she bravely opened the door to her room and looked out. The hallway was dark and it was all quiet. She then boldly ventured out and cautiously walked over to her parents' room to inspect it.

Letting a sigh of relief since nobody was inside, she then went downstairs to check. The living room was empty, and so was the kitchen. She was relieved to know that she was alone now in the house, thus making her preparations to San Lorenzo a whole lot easier. She quickly ran into the bathroom, took away her toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar a soap and put them into a plastic bag. She went into her room back and threw the bag next to her backpack. Helga opened her closet and mustered as many clothes she could carry in one sitting and stuffed them into her bag. Finally, she put her hygiene products, an address book and a paperback book into her backpack and fastened her bag up. She then scanned around to see if she had forgotten something. She saw her laptop on her desk. She shut it off, and put it inside the carrying bag.

She was all set. She lifted her backpack and carried it alongside with her laptop. But before she went downstairs again, she stopped at her tracks and felt that she needed to tell someone about her departure to a foreign country that she vaguely had any idea on what it was. She had no choice but to tell her sister, since she knew that Olga was on her way to her house. She then walked hastily to Olga's room and headed to her old desk, which was still furnished despite of her already had moved out of the house. She took a pen and a paper out and wrote a note to her. After reading it again and again, she finally approved the contents she just wrote and left it on the table. As she walked to the front door she saw the broken vase in the middle of the hallway that Bob threw earlier: a painful reminder for her of why she must leave home momentarily.

---

A few teardrops fell to the wooden floor, as Helga concluded her melancholic story to Arnold, in the midst of the torrential rain that seemed to gradually weakening. Arnold looked at her in deep sympathy. And right now he understood why his father hated Bob Pataki so much. "Then I went to the nearest subway station, and took a train ride to the airport." She continued her story. "Because… I really felt like you're my last hope, Arnold." She sniffed, and wiped a tear away, "I wanted to see you… to help me with my problems. And I… really miss you… and I l… l-lo…"

"_Say it! SAY IT!"_ Every part in her body told her to say it. Her heart, her mind, her lips, everything. But the only thing that hindered the way was her tongue. It became frozen and hesitant to say those three simple words. "I… lo-l-l… need your advice…" and again, yet another wonderful opportunity was passed by Helga Pataki. She really wanted to beat herself senseless right now for being too cowardly and pathetic to open up to him.

Arnold was in a difficult position right now, and he felt the burden of Helga's problem was suddenly being put on him. Helga expected him to help her, but he didn't even know how to. He didn't know where to begin. Helga's position was too difficult for him to help, and due to that he felt so helpless and weak to give any meaningful advice and take any kind of action at all. This crisis should not be handled by himself alone, and he needed someone more mature and experienced enough to help her out. He slowly got up from his seat and gave Helga a hug to assure her. Helga was moved, and embraced him back, tightly.

"I'll do my best to help you, Helga. I promise. You have my word. I will use everything in my power to help you out. I _will_ help you."

"Oh, Arnold…"

---

Miles was stunned. He had this blank and disbelief look on his face as he stared at the door to Arnold's room. After gaining some thoughts, and took a deep breath as he wiped his wet hair back, he slowly walked to his bedroom where his wife was sitting on the bed reading a book while waiting for him. The sudden emergence of her husband at the door really surprised her.

"Miles!" Stella said as she threw the book away and ran to her husband, "Thank God you're all right…" she hugged him tightly and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I was wrong…" he said intoned disbelievingly while still had that blank face on him. Stella lifted her head back and looked at him, while still hugging him.

"What are you talking about, honey?"

"It's Helga… she didn't run away… Bob kicked her out from the house."

* * *

I don't know about you, but I think Helga's explanation is kinda weak... maybe I'm being too paranoid. _Please_ prove me wrong, I beg of you. I wish I expanded Phoebe's scene more, because I feel there are lot of gaps, some questions unanswered and I left plenty of space and not expanding it further. And Olga's already married? To who, you might ask. Honestly, I don't know. Just think up of some guy that Bob would approve of. He's not going to play a role in this story however. My sincerest apologies for not updating this story so soon. Thanks, and please give me some feedback.  



	13. Conflict

_Author's Note: _Longest. Chapter. EVAR. It seemed that I got carried away in writing the previous chapter by making Bob a real unlikable character in this story - Which unfortunately has strayed a bit from my original intention of making him a more caring and thoughtful father. Hopefully I will try to get his character back on track again. His love for his family is shown in Chapter Five, to justify his love, just so you know. This chapter marks as the second act of the story, as chapters 1-11 being the first act and 12 being the transition chapter of this story. And because this is the second act of the story, there are some minimal changes in the format. For example, for now on, every chapter will start with a brief explanation of a certain theme that more or less ties with the chapter, just to make it more understandable. Well, enjoy.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

  
Chapter 13: Conflict

**_Name of country:_** San Lorenzo. **_Full Name:_** República Independiente de San Lorenzo. **_Official Language: _**Spanish, English is sparsely spoken. **_Capital:_** Bolivar. **_Form of Government:_** Democratic Presidential System (Unstable and Fragile). **_President:_** Ernesto Monzano – elected (De facto leader). **_Independence:_** From Spain (Dec. 11th 1898) **_Area:_** (Land) Roughly around 250 square km. (Water) Negligible. **_Climate:_** Tropical. **_Terrain:_** Mountainous. **_Population: _**(Before Genocide) 21500 est. (After) 12000 est. **_Religion: _**Roman Catholicism, Bokononism, Protestantism and non-religious. **_GDP (nominal) per capita: _**451 Dollars. **_Economy: _**Tourism, agriculture, logging, mining. **_Natural resources:_** Oil, gold, zinc. **_Currency: _**Peso. **_Life expectancy:_** 51.54 years. **_Birth Rate: _**40.67(births)/1000 Population. **_Infant Mortality Rate: _**21.23(Death)/1000 live births. **_Population below Poverty Line:_** 83 percent. **_Dictatorship Period:_** 1905-1961. **_Communism Period: _**1961-1984, 1989-1995. **_Military Junta:_** 1984-1989. **_Democratic Period:_** 1995-present.

-- The World Fact Book (revised edition - 1999)

---

_The Next Morning…_

"So basically that's what happened to her." Arnold summarized the story about Helga to his mother, as he stared blankly at his bowl of cereal, which was the only thing edible on the table than the other food items that his mother had prepared for breakfast. And on that moment, he remembered the sweet smell of syrup on the soft, warm, tender, yet flaky pancakes that his grandmother made when he was just a little boy. He really missed his grandmother's cooking. He snapped back and turned his attention from food to Helga's problems. He really wanted to help her out. "I really need some advice here, mom. I'm really lost here."

"My goodness, really?" Stella replied as she put the slightly burned pancakes onto a plate, "Your dad did hear some parts of her story, mostly at the end… but now is all clear now thanks to you." After hearing that from Arnold, she felt like she could no longer stay idly by and left Helga alone with her problems. She must act quickly. If she continued not to take any kind of action at all, it would get more complicated and even more conflicted."I'll try to talk to her at the camp today." His mother added.

She then placed the plate of pancakes in front of Arnold. He widened his eyes in horror. If only Abner was still alive, he could've given some of them to his pet since he'd eat _anything_. And because of his pet's absence, he put the plate away from him and tried to ignore it. "Thanks. Uh… speaking of dad, where is he? Still in bed?" Arnold asked.

"He went out early to welcome the new American ambassador arriving at the airport today." She took a seat in front of her son. "Oh, before I forget, I need you to go the airport too. Your grandpa's shipment is arriving today."

"Already? Man, that's fast." He said with a mouthful of cereal.

"All the food products are ours, except for the five tons of grain that needs to be delivered to the Red Cross Camp East. It's not much, but it should last for at least a month." Her eyes then shifted elsewhere, particularly on that plate of pancakes. Why wasn't his son eating that pancake she just cooked for him?

"Five tons? That's odd. It is a donation? You and dad donate to them or something?"

"Yes, we are. The situation at that camp is in desperate need for food. The Red Cross only gives limited amounts of them and waiting for some charity organization to send aid is like waiting for death to come. Oh, and bring a few peacekeepers along with you to help with the delivering and the distribution process. Once the aid arrives at the camp people will flock around your jeep and take everything that they can get their hands on. It'll be chaotic."

"I know mom. I've been doing this for nearly a year and I know what I'm doing." He nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay, that settles your agenda for today." Stella replied back as she nodded. "Hey, why aren't you eating those pancakes I just cook for you?"

"Oh…" he looked nervously at those ugly things that his mother called 'pancakes', and replied back to her, "I just… want it to cool down… for a while… yeah." He grinned nervously at her back.

"I'm pretty sure it's already cool enough for you to eat." Stella placed both of her elbows on the table, clamped her fingers together and placed her chin on them as she beamed at her son. "Go ahead. I really want your opinion about it."

He gulped down uneasily. He looked at the pancakes again. He thought he just saw something malicious oozed out from them. What was his mother trying to feed him actually? He looked back at his mother and beamed back awkwardly.

"Arnold, there are thousands of people in this country who lives on every day without getting any sufficient nutrition in their diet. Those starving people get barely enough food as it is." She said to her son, while still having that sardonic smile on her face, "And here you are with breakfast already available in front of you, while those people outside would be happy just to have a bite of what you're having right now. Think about them for a while Arnold. They're desperate for food, and you waste yours. Doesn't that sound very thoughtless to you? So are you going to tell me…" she brought her face close to him, as Arnold recoiled back, looking at her fearfully, "that you're not going to eat this? That you're going this _waste_ this? I don't think so mister."

"N-No ma'am…" he replied back timidly. It seemed that the guilt piling that Stella just did to Arnold worked. He hated it when she did that to him. He then slowly picked a fork up and carefully poked the pancake, and cut a portion of it away. Stella was still smiling. The texture and the smell of this so called 'pancake' were extremely foul, that brave men cower in fear and wet their kilts just by looking at it. Arnold reluctantly brought the food closer to his mouth and unwillingly opened his mouth. As he just took his first bite…

A loud sound of a horn blaring was heard from outside. It was Stella's and Helga's carpool van to their sick camp. Saved by the horn.

"Oh, time to go." Stella got up and reached for her stethoscope and her patient logbook on the counter. "Bye, honey." She kissed Arnold on the cheek. "And make sure you get grandpa's delivery at the airport, okay? Helga? Are you all set? Time to go!"

"But I haven't had breakfast yet!" she shouted back from her room. She woke up late due to the emotional stress yesterday that made her sleep late last night and right now, she just finished up putting her clothes on after her shower.

"Oh, just pick up whatever's on the table and hurry up!" Stella replied back as she walked out hastily from her house. Helga then quickly got out from her room and went to the table to pick up whatever was on the table. She changed her mind upon looking at the unrecognizable food-like things on the table.

"I think I'll just have my breakfast at the camp." Helga said to Arnold nervously.

"I strongly recommend that." Arnold replied back, in accord with her. "So… feel any better today?"

She sighed, "Can't say that I am." Helga replied weakly. "I really don't know what to do next. Maybe I have to stay at Salma's place after all."

"Are you sure about that?" Arnold asked again. "I really enjoy having you as a guest."

Helga smiled a bit at him, "Thanks, but I think I don't want to burden you guys anymore. Oh Arnold… I forgot to tell you something yesterday."

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell your parents about everything that I said to you last night, okay?" she asked. "I don't want them to worry." Arnold was stunned, and the fork he was holding in his hand dropped onto the plate. Problem was, he had already told _everything_ about her predicament to his mother. He wanted to tell her that he already told his mother, but he was too stunned to give any sort of reply to her back. The van blare the horn again, asking her to be quick.

"I'm sure you'll understand. Thanks." After finishing her orange juice that tasted like apple juice, she quickly ran out and jumped into the waiting van. Arnold still had that stunned look on his face while gazing at the door where Helga just ran out.

"Oh, _CRAP_…" he threw himself to the chair as he smacked his forehead.

---

After a few hours in the sick camp, Stella decided to take a rest for while and went over to her table. She picked her thermos up and drank the coffee from it. She let out a sigh and began to scan around the camp. So much had changed these past several years. This place used to be a huge refugee camp and hordes of displaced people, young and old, came here for seek help and shelter from the internal fighting in various places of the country many years ago. The number grew so sharply each and everyday that they had to erect tents outside and people even had to sleep on the ground, without any kind of protection at all. And due to that, many cases of scorpion and insect stings were reported almost daily, in the midst of broken bones, massive blood lost due to being caught in a crossfire, and many illness too unbearable and was left untreated due to lack of medicines, staffs and equipment.

Stella was glad those days were over. Still, she was sad because there were so many people untreated at that time and were left to die. If only she had sufficient people and medicine like she had right now at that period, things would be very different. Lives would be saved. But as for the dead, they left no tales or identification, so there were a lot of unmarked graves at the back of the sick camp, and that was a painful reminder for Stella on why she must keep on helping these people.

She then looked at Helga, and saw her not being a good help like yesterday, or the day before. Her hands were visibly shaken, she was hesitant when a doctor or a nurse asked her to do something, and always not doing it correctly when they asked her to do it. Maybe she was still traumatized about the incident yesterday with that dead patient. Stella then took a last sip from her thermos, and walked to her patient. "Helga, I need your help here." She summoned her. After Helga did her last instructions from another doctor, she then walked up to Stella.

"Five millimeters of ALPs." She asked Helga, and she quickly opened the box that contained the medicine that Stella requested as she grabbed a syringe. Helga wasn't calm when she did that, judging from the visibly shaking hands that Stella had noticed as she observed her.

"Just calm down, Helga." She said.

Helga nodded, and finally she managed to do it. She then gave to Stella and after she inspected whether the medicine was in the correct dose, she then injected it into the patient. "Helga, I'm sorry you had to see that yesterday… you know, that man who died yesterday. I know it's very violent the way he died and freaked you out… but—"

Helga raised her hands and stretched her palm outwards as to say no to her, "Yeah, I was terrified by that… but I'm trying to forget it now. No use remembering it again."

She was awfully strong to say that for a person who was still traumatized, Stella thought to herself.

"So… how come he died like that?" Helga asked, "Was he infected by some sort of a disease or something?"

"Do you remember the Sombra disease? You know; the sleeping disease that I told you about when you were here for the first time?"

Helga nodded weakly.

"He died because of the complications derived from the second strand of the disease. The symptoms are fever and muscle weaknesses at the first stage of the disease. You will see confusion, violent behavior and convulsions on the second stage, and lastly on the final stage –and also known as the fatal stage, the patient will have irregular sleeping patterns which will lead to coma – where the sleeping disease obtains its name from, few instances of convulsions and ultimately, death."

Helga widened her eyes in horror as she gazed at Stella tensely. She began to feel fearful for her life. "Uh… can I get an immunization?"

"There isn't any immunization for the sickness Helga, but we do have the cure and extensive treatment for it. And even if we had one, we wouldn't give it to you."

She furrowed her eyebrows in shock, "Why not?"

"Well… look around you and tell me what you see."

Helga nodded and looked around the camp. "People?" she said.

"What kind of people?" Stella asked back.

"Sick, poor people?"

"Exactly. Medicine for it is scarce, so it's reserved for those who really need it. These people are given priority first. You already have your health Helga, so it would be inexcusable to give the immunization to you. Which brings a question that I've been meaning to ask you: you did undergo a vaccination process before entering this country, didn't you?"

Helga was stunned as she stared at her back blankly. She didn't know a medical checkup was required to enter the country. And why she was let in anyway at the airport in the first place?

"Prophylactic medicine for malaria? Smallpox? You did take them, didn't you?" she asked again, this time with an alarmed tone. Helga could only stare at her back nervously. "Oh my God… you didn't, did you?" Stella asked again.

Helga could only nod weakly at her.

Stella sighed in disbelief, and said to her, "What were you thinking Helga?" she crossed her arms, "Coming to this country without any proper vaccination at all? Did you make any preparations before coming to this country? You're lucky they didn't put you in an interrogating room for not showing your health certificate to them."

"Well, uh… I—" she stuttered nervously.

"This trip is all unplanned, isn't it?" she grilled her, "Your parents have absolutely no idea that you're here, haven't they?"

She began to feel tense and nervous, and beads of sweat began to develop on her forehead, "Uh… um, please… please don't tell—"

"You ran away from home, didn't you?" she accused her blamefully. Helga could only go silent after that as she stared at her fearfully. Stella scoffed, and said, "Arnold's right, you—"

"Wait." Helga cut her off, "A-Arnold told you about this?"

"Yes, he did—"

"I can't believe it." Helga said to herself disbelievingly. "I can't believe he told you after he promised me!" she raised her voice. Stella sensed something was amiss. She knew her son well: he would always keep his promise regardless of the situation. And hearing this from Helga, it was totally out-of-character for her son to do that.

"Wait… Helga, it wasn't Arnold's fault, Miles—"

"Oh, so now you're going to tell me that he eavesdropped on me and Arnold, huh? Way to gain my trust back, DR. STELLA!" By now everyone in the camp was looking at them with an incredulous look. What was the commotion about, they thought to themselves. And the most worrisome of all was Mona, as she looked at Helga with a sympathized gaze. She could see a tear rolled down from Helga's eyes, as she threw a tantrum at Stella and blamed everything on her. Stella just kept her cool and let Helga continue on her emotional outburst to her. "You know what? I'm tired of this crap! I'm outta here!" it was yet another unthinkable move from Helga as she stormed out from the camp. Stella quickly went after her, "Helga, wait!"

Some of the old patients could only shake their heads and said to the person next to them, _"Americanos… ellos nunca respetan a sus mayores."_

"_Sí…" _the person agreed with him.

"Helga, wait!" Stella ordered her. "Where the heck you think you're going?"

"Away from _you_!" she cried back angrily at her, as she made her way to the dirt road down the hill.

"And where do you think you'll be going next?" Stella stopped pursuing after her and yelled back. "The nearest village is 20 miles away from here and Bolivar is a five hour journey on foot passing through mountains, dense jungles and rivers. And don't get me started on the wildlife here. Snakes and wild boars are just a few things that you'll have to face along the way. You won't survive without a proper transportation."

Helga stopped on her tracks when she heard that. She realized that she was very naïve about this country and Stella could be right about it. But yet she denied it because she felt that Stella was just scaring her and might just have exaggerated about it.

"Besides, do you have any idea which way it is to the nearest village? And even if you managed to get there, can you speak Spanish to ask them to bring you to Bolivar? Assuming of course, they agreed to send you there."

And at this moment, logic stated that she couldn't win against Stella reasoning. She broke down, sobbing again.

Stella continued her hardcore grilling on Helga to brutally dishearten her, "And just assume, hypothetically, that somehow you managed to get to the capital. How much money do you have? Where are you going to? The next plane out of this country is leaving on this Sunday and there aren't any ferry boats to take you out. This is an island, Helga. You're virtually trapped in this country."

"Shut up…" she said, sobbing.

"And consider this just for a moment: You're a young girl Helga, and a Westerner at that. Just because the rebels are weak doesn't mean they aren't active. They have spies everywhere, even in Bolivar. And people like you are usually their target for kidnappings. They'll bring you to their place bounded and gagged and they'll demand ransom money in return for your safety. Or they'd just skip the whole ransom thing and do the most unthinkable thing on you… which I dare not speak."

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" she burst out brokenly as she cried. She knew she was wrong. There was no need for Stella to demoralize her when she was completely miserable right now. Stella was very well aware now that Helga understood the repercussions and she quickly came to her and hugged her tightly to calm her down. Helga embraced her. She really felt lost right now.

"I want to help you Helga… I really do." Stella said to her softly, almost whispering to gain her trust. "But it's really hard for us when you keep dodging yourself away from us. _Please_, let us help you. Me, Miles, and Arnold especially, are really concerned about you. Give us a chance, please?"

"Help…" Helga weakly said it brokenly.

---

"You're okay now?" Stella asked as she gazed the sad child in front of her. Helga nodded weakly back, as she adjusted her position on the folding chair she was sitting on. Stella crossed her legs, took a sip of coffee from her thermos and said, "First off, let's be honest, girl-to-girl, and I want to tell you this: Miles didn't eavesdrop, he just came back from the dig site and just so happened to walk by the computer room when he heard your conversation with him. And as for Arnold… when did you ask him to keep this a secret?"

Helga sniffed, and replied, "Right before I walked out from the house this morning… after breakfast… you were already in the van at that time."

She placed her thermos on her table, "And there lies the problem: he told me about your situation when you were in the bathroom showering. Now, are we clear here? Are there any other misunderstandings that need to be rectified?"

Helga shook her head weakly. No misunderstandings were present at this point.

"Okay." Stella responded back, nodding. "I'll spare the details since I already know why you ran away from home. Well, I as much as want I support your decision due to your conditions back home, I can't." she shook her head. "You were ill prepared, you made this decision abruptly in a span of just a few minutes, and you made everybody you know worry about you."

"Where else would I go to?" she defended her actions, "Bob's acting like a maniac in the house. My friend shunned me—"

"What about your sister? Why couldn't you just wait at her house for a while until she got back?"

"Mrs. —" a medicine tray across the room accidentally fell down, "This really isn't helping me at all. You're like… blaming me for making a stupid decision or something."

"It _is_ a stupid decision, Helga." She replied back. "Think about it. Although this country is getting better each and everyday, it's still volatile." She pointed a finger at her, "You came here without any proper vaccination at all, you ignored our country's travel advisory, you—" she stopped abruptly, made her hand into a fist and withdrew it away from Helga and shook it in disappointment, "I can think up a hundred of things that you disregarded Helga, but I'm not going to because I don't want to upset you even more."

Helga lowered her head, sighing, while wondering where Stella wanted to lead her to. Stella looked at her back, and she could understand that Helga was growing weary of her condemning her every action, judging from those tired, watery eyes. Stella let a breath out a little, and asked her, "Last question: How did you managed to get here? How did you find out where we live?"

"I have the money."

"You didn't steal them or anything, did you?" Stella asked back accusingly, yet with a comforting tone.

Helga was a bit hesitant to replied back, since she still felt guilty of using most of her sister's money to cover her travel expanses, "N-no, of course not." She lied.

Stella didn't believe her even the slightest. She knew she was lying, judging from the hesitant reply and the nervous tone she gave to her. Still, she let her continue. "Okay. Go on."

"Arnold wrote to me when he arrived in this country many years ago. Then I… just jotted them down on my address book."

"Mm-hmm." Stella nodded.

"When I first arrived here, I actually didn't know where should to go to. I saw a soldier at the airport, asked him and he showed me the way."

"Well, you got lucky Helga." Stella replied back. "Spies usually disguised themselves as peacekeepers so they can wonder around freely and look for victims, like you."

Helga widened her eyes in terror, horrified by the explanation given by Stella.

"Look Helga…" she said, "I cannot understand what are you going through now, but I can relate myself to your actions, because when I was around your age I ran away from home too."

Helga scoffed disbelievingly, "Why? Was it because your parents were fighting too?" she asked in rather skeptical, discontented tone.

"No actually." Stella took a deep breath, and continued, "I was a fervent opposition of the Vietnam War and I wanted to attend a rally in Washington with my…" she was a bit hesitant to say it, "new boyfriend… at that time. He was the one who actually coaxed me to go there. My father forbade it of course, and then, the dispute began soon after that."

Helga raised her eyebrow, suddenly becoming interested in hearing her story all of the sudden, "Oh?"

"Well, there was plenty of fighting and arguing between me and dad… and when the time came, I left no notes… or anything at all to tell the folks that I'm leaving for the rally. Mind you, I just met this guy and I really didn't know much about him, and yet, I left home. I admit it, I was stupid."

In her mind, Helga was quite amused by her story. In comparison between her story and Stella's, Stella was actually the one who made the more abrupt and dumber decision than she did.

"When we arrived at Washington, he began to show his true colors to me. He was… very abusive. He was… well," she shook her head in disbelief. Helga could see her hand trembling visibly, and became quite tense and nervous than before, "Just forget it. It's a very old story, and I shouldn't have brought it up." She scoffed in disbelief, and tried to give a bit of smile at Helga, despite being traumatized right now. "My point is, Helga: by running away from home you've made the ones who are close to you worry about you, and they are eager for your return back home."

"Yeah right…" Helga replied with a somewhat tense, disbelieving tone. She was a bit disturbed by Stella's story. She also wondered whether Stella had shared this story with his husband. "Like Bob would want me back."

"What about your mother Helga?" She asked back, "Arnold told me that your mom defended you from Bob, and you wanted to defend her back. You shouldn't let her worry Helga. She still loves you."

"Well… maybe I'll—"

"And your sister too. She cares about you. She also sent an email to us on behalf of your parents – Miriam _and_ Bob." She then placed a hand on Helga's shoulder. Helga was stunned a bit. Miriam _and_ Bob? Why was she stressing his name? As far as she knew, Bob didn't want her back.

"Your family: Olga, Miriam and Bob all love you, and they'll do whatever it takes for you to give them a chance."

"I don't believe it." Helga shook her head. "I could understand mom and my sis, but Bob? Tch." She scoffed, "Like I'm going to believe that. Bob rather see me on the streets than in the comforts of his house."

"On the contrary: He phones the San Lorenzo's Foreign Affairs Office at least five times everyday asking whether there any developments of finding you. I've heard him, Helga. He really misses you, and he's awfully scared to learn that we've got nothing to report to him."

"You knew this all along, didn't you? So why didn't you tell me that he called?"

"Because I saw fear in your eyes Helga. Maybe you did left home for a real reason instead of those silly teen angst outbursts. Thank God I was right. But now… after numerous phone calls and letters from your family begging and pleading for us to find you, we think it's about time that you have to come clean with your family Helga. Trust me, they still love you." Stella said, smiling. "Besides, they're kind of angry at your family for pestering them each and everyday and disturbing their work." Stella made a joke, and both of them laughed softly. "They want you to be found as soon as possible."

Even after the weak humorous moment and the numerous attempts from Stella to ask her to open up, Helga was still hesitant to contact her parents, "I'm sorry but… I still don't believe you. It's hard for me to believe that Bob suddenly cares about me. I don't trust him anymore."

"Well… could you at least contact your mother?" she then lifted the phone and gave it to Helga. "Tell her that you're all right, safe and sound?"

Helga was a bit hesitant to contact her mother as she stared at the phone in her hands. After much contemplation, she replied, "Okay… but you better be right." Helga then dialed her number. After that Stella pressed the speaker button so both she and Helga could listen and interact with the person on the other end. Helga then placed the receiver back on the phone and patiently waiting for someone to answer the call. Helga was very nervous and edgy right now, as she crossed her arms and tapped her leg to calm herself up.

"Hello?" finally somebody answered. Judging from the tone, the answerer sounded very weary and tired, as though she didn't sleep for days.

"Hi, is this the Pataki residence?" Stella asked her.

There was a slight pause, "Yes… this is Miriam. Who shall I say is calling?"

"Miriam? Hi, this is Stella. Remember me? I lived at Vine Street several years ago."

"Stella?" Miriam said to herself as she tapped her chin with her index finger. She was a bit familiar with the name. "Stella… Stella…"

"You know, the Sunset Arms Boarding House?"

Then it hit her, "Oh…! Y-You're Arnold's mother, aren't you? My daughter told me that you guys moved… to…" and then she just snapped, "Omigod! Y-You live in San Lorenzo, don't you?" she asked excitedly, knowing that she could at least have a few bits of information regarding her daughter. "My… my daughter went over to that country several days ago! We've been in contact with the local government and—"

"Just… just calm down, okay?" Stella looked at Helga and winked at her. Helga then smiled a bit as a mark of understanding that Stella kept her promise and had proven her wrong. And judging from her mother's voice on the phone, she knew that Miriam was concerned and worried about her wellbeing. She also felt bad a bit that she made Miriam all weary from searching for her.

"Is your husband there?" Stella continued. Helga raised an eyebrow and her heart skipped a beat.

"He's at the airport right now with my daughter, trying to find an earlier ticket to San Lorenzo."

Helga was stunned. Stella was right again: Bob was concerned about her. But still, she found herself hard to trust her father again.

"Okay, I…" she spoke slowly, yet in a happy voice, "have your daughter with me right now."

And Miriam jumped up and was extremely delighted to hear that and euphorically shouted on the phone to hear that her daughter was safe and sound and in the company of a group of people she knew. "Would you like to talk to her?" Stella asked again.

Miriam replied without hesitation, "Oh, thank you kindly!"

Stella then gave a satisfied smile at Helga, as she looked at her back. With the phone in her hands, clinging tightly to it as she thought of what should she respond to her mother. Helga then put it on her ear, and said, "Hello? Mom? It's me, Helga."

---

"You said you've booked tickets to San Lorenzo on the next Friday, is that it? Oh… I see." Stella replied, nodding. "Well, I'm leaving for Geneva this Sunday and my flight is scheduled to stop at Hillwood for a few of hours." Stella then stopped a while to hear from Miriam. She then replied back, "I don't know. Refueling, I guess. Yes, they'll let some passengers out. So it's okay then?" Stella then looked at Helga. She had this uncertain, yet skeptical look on her face to know that everything in her house suddenly went fine just all of the sudden, despite of the horrific and traumatic argument between her parents a few days before. "Helga? Are you sure you've made your mind? Or do you have to think more before you made your decision?"

Helga made a final contemplation. After much thought she replied in a reluctant tone, "Yes… I have. I'm going with you. But tell her I want to stay at Olga's for a while... I don't want to live under one roof with Bob for the time being..." She hoped that by Sunday, which was about three days from now, she'd confessed her love to Arnold. If she was brave enough and not missed another opportunity like yesterday.

Stella nodded, and said to Miriam, "She agrees to come with me, and she hopes that you're willing to let her stay at your eldest daughter's place for a while. Okay?" she asked, and Miriam replied after much contemplation, and agreed to the proposal, "Okay. I think you can cancel your tickets now."

"Thank you Stella." Miriam said in full gratitude, "Thank you so much for helping us finding our daughter."

And then suddenly, "Miriam? Who's that on the phone?" Miriam turned around and saw her husband and her elder daughter at the front door. Apparently they just got back from the airport.

"Could you hold on please?" Miriam said to Stella. She then looked at her family and happily said, "You wouldn't believe this: It's Helga, she called us!"

Bob and Miriam looked at each other in disbelief. Then a smile developed on their faces and both of them hugged each other joyfully, realizing that Helga was safe, "Oh my goodness! That is such wonderful news indeed!" Olga said to her father. Bob then nodded at her daughter and turned to Miriam.

"H-Hey, can I talk to her for a while?" he asked. And all went silent for a moment, and the smile from their faces began to dim down to a weak frown.

Miriam nodded weakly and asked, "Uh… Stella, Bob is here and he wants to talk to Helga for a moment. Could you put her on the phone for a while?"

Helga's expression changed drastically and she could feel blood rushing through every part of her body in fear. Her heart skipped a beat and she began to hyperventilate. Stella could see fear in her eyes again. She shook her head feverishly. Stella nodded weakly, and understood that it would take some time, a long, long time for Helga to trust her father again. "She's… busy attending a patient right now…" she lied to them, "I think it could take some time before she finishes her task."

Miriam and Olga looked back at Bob. All of them knew that Stella made that story up because Helga didn't want to talk with him. Bob understood, and started to blame himself as he rubbed his forehead in disappointment and embarrassment. Miriam understood it. She then replied to Stella. "We understand. I'm glad to hear that she's being awfully nice there, helping those people and all."

"Yeah…" Stella agreed, "She's a good helper." Stella looked at Helga again, and her face was brightened up a bit from the comments her mother and Stella made about her, and in relief that she wouldn't have to talk to her father. "So…" Stella continued, "The plane should arrive at Hillwood on Sunday night. Check the plane the schedule."

"I'll be in touch." Miriam replied. "Again, thank you very much."

"No problem." And then the both of them hung the phone up. Miriam looked at Bob, who was sitting on one of the stoop of the stairs and his hands clasping his face. He was hiding his embarrassment from his wife and daughter. His eyes were brimming with tears and he tried to minimize the sound his sobbing voice. "Helga doesn't want to talk to me…" he said with sad, melancholic and dejected voice. "I'm a horrible, horrible father…"

Stella looked at Helga with a worrisome look and said to her, "Helga, I could book the tickets for later weeks' flight in advance… if you're not sure you want to leave—"

"I'm sure…" she replied in a somewhat calm voice, after been shook up a bit, "I trust you when you said that my dad has changed. I heard his joy on the phone just now, and I'm… kind of convinced. Still, it doesn't mean that I trust him. I'm still skeptical, and I hope that he really is what you say he is… I don't want it to happen again…"

Stella nodded at her explanation. She sympathized with her for going through this ordeal. Suddenly the phone rang again. _"That was fast…" _she thought to herself. She then picked the phone up and said, "Hello." The person on the other side of the line spoke in Spanish, and Stella replied back, _"¿Què?" _her voice became worried and concerned all of the sudden."_¿Què quiere decir con que su abuela està muerta¿Està seguro?"_ she put a hand on her mouth in shock as she listened to the caller telling her the terrible news,_ "Gracias, vamos en camino."_

She put the phone down again, and took a deep breath. She was totally in disbelief. She then looked at Helga and said, "Helga, follow me to Marcelo's house for a while."

"Why?" she asked back.

"I'll tell you on the way. Come on."

* * *

Is it too early for Helga to contact her family? I'll justify it by this explanation: It's nearly a week now and I think both sides of the family are starting to crack. Obviously Helga still has faith in Miriam and her sister, but not for Bob, as I explained earlier where she wouldn't want to talk to him on the phone. Tell me if you found any errors when you were reading this story. Any input is much appreciated. And oh, I find this very interesting - found it on Doctors Without Borders Website: 

_Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), is a fatal parasitic disease that affects 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa: 60 million people are at risk. Nearly eliminated in the 1960s, HAT has been making a comeback of epidemic proportions due to war, population movements, and the collapse of health systems over the past two decades._

_The parasite causing sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans through the bite of the infected tsetse flies breeding in warm and humid areas. Inhabiting the vast savannah across sub-Saharan Africa, tsetse flies come into contact with man, cattle and wild animals, all acting as reservoirs for the parasites._

_The first stage of sleeping sickness presents with non-specific symptoms such as fever and weakness. This stage is difficult to diagnose but relatively easy to treat. If no treatment is given, the parasite will invade the infected person's central nervous system and the second stage sets in. This stage may be characterized by confusion, violent behavior or convulsions. Named after one of its most striking symptoms, patients with sleeping sickness experience an inability to sleep during the night but are overcome by sleep during the day. If left untreated, the disease inevitably leads to coma and death._


	14. Orphan

_Author's Note: _Late due to obvious reasons. This chapter tells us mostly about the Green Eyed people, although I know most of you hunger for more Arnold-Helga stuff. You won't be disappointed though because I allocated some scenes for the ever popular couple, something that the last chapter lacked a lot. Which is why I think contributes the lack of review for the previous chater, plus some other things like (I think) poor writing and some inconsistencies. Or maybe it's just because of the 'unlucky' number thirteen, not that I'm superstitious or anything. I also have to do a little bit research so I could expand the story of San Lorenzo itself in future chapters. That been said, enjoy.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 14: Orphan

The Isayan people, colloquially known as the Green-Eyed people, are believed to be the very first settlers of San Lorenzo. Their ancestry can be traced back to the Mayans in Mainland Central America after an extensive DNA research and obvious visual similarities between their architecture and culture. According to a manuscript recently founded in a pyramid, they were banished from the mainland due to heresy and rebellion against the traditional Mayan religion by initiating a new sect which is considered blasphemous by the orthodox believers. They were then expelled to San Lorenzo by the decree of the ruler, as told in various sources from both civilizations. The manuscripts indicate it may hold some credibility. It is said that a jade, which the Green-Eyed people considers as sacred and holy, attributes the most distinguishing appearance of them – the dimly glowing green eyes. In accordance and respect to the local culture, such scientific studies regarding the sacred jade and its effects on the people are highly unlikely.

The Green-Eyes chose this particular place to settle in due to the lack of hostiles, the fertile grounds to plant crops, the availability of fresh water and the abundance of natural resources. The architecture and engineering of these people are considered highly advanced during their era, as beautiful and large monuments around the islands are proof of their ingenuity. Due to the expulsion, the Green-Eyes were expecting a war because of the mainland's hostility towards them. But after hundreds of years of buildup, they did not come, and their actual adversary was Mother Nature herself. Some time in the mid 16th century, the volcano Cabrakan erupted and wiped out most of the inhabitants of the main island and few from the other four. Their civilization declined sharply after the catastrophe and the arrival of Spanish colonists bring further destruction to their way of life. Since then they remained hidden in the more remote places of the island until their eventual rediscovery in the late 1900s.

-- Summarized excerpts from the PhD. thesis of 'The Rise and Fall of Isayan People' (Miles -------- MSc. of Archeology in Ancient Americas Studies)

---

The jeep went through the long and windy road, and the journey to Marcelo's village was done without any conversation being exchanged by Helga and Stella. Even when Stella promised her to tell about the situation along the away, she still hadn't told her anything about it yet. Helga knew something terrible had happened, judging from Stella's concerned look and the gloomy talk she just had on the phone earlier, and due to that Helga decided to keep her curiosity to herself and wait until they arrive at the village. Upon arrival, there were a lot of people gathering at Marcelo's dwelling and almost every one of them looked sad and depressed. Stella parked the jeep next to Miles', which she assumed that he arrived earlier than they did. Before getting out, she asked Helga, "Helga, could you look inside the glove compartment for a talisman?"

Helga nodded, and went over the compartment in search for the said talisman. She rummaged through the old papers and whatnot, and saw this strange key-like object made out of wood and there was an image of a green colored eye of some sort carved on it. "Is this it?"

Stella nodded and replied, "Thank you." She took the talisman away and put it around her neck. A string necklace with a talisman attached to it. As they got off from the jeep, they could see another one coming at them, rather speedily. The driver then parked next to Stella's vehicle, and stopped the car. Arnold came out of the jeep and walked over to the two females.

"Man, you guys are fast." Arnold said, like he was hasting.

"Do you have your talisman with you?" Stella asked him.

"What are you talking about mom?" Arnold then showed her his talisman by pulling it out from his shirt, "I always have this thing around my neck."

His mother nodded, "Okay then. Let's go." Then the three of them headed to the crowded small dwelling and their way through the sea of people. As they got to the main entrance, a guard had his hand up with his palm outwards to halt the newcomers from entering. The guard was wearing the usual everyday clothing, an exotic headdress and armbands. And the most striking feature of all, both of his eyes were green in color.

"**Stella, Arnold. That girl cannot enter." **The guard said, pointing to Helga.

"**Hey, come on man."** Arnold appealed, **"She's a friend of mine. You can trust her." **

At this moment Helga wished she could follow the conversation between Arnold and that guard since she understood only a little Spanish.

"**You know the rules, Arnold."** The guard replied back, shaking his head, **"Please respect our traditions. Unless the girl is an accepted member—"**

Arnold sighed, and held both of his hands out as though to stop him to elaborate any further. **"Okay, man. I understand."** He nodded. He then turned around to Helga and said to her, "Sorry Helga, you can't come in."

"Why?" she asked back in curiosity.

"It's… a cultural thing." Arnold replied back. "I'm sorry, they just can't let you in. I won't be long, I promise. I just want to check on Marcelo, that's all. In the mean time, why don't you have a walk around the village and take a look around, but just don't go into the temple or touch the totem poles, okay?"

Helga then nodded and let Stella and Arnold walked into the house. From outside, she could see Stella talking to the many female members of the village community. Arnold was seen walking into a room, and Miles walked out. Helga knew that she couldn't do anything here, except for blocking other people's way in, so she walked out through the crowd and proceeded to educate herself about this exotic indigenous people by walking around the village and examine the people who made this place.

Every hut was made out of a combination of masonry and wood, and the roof was made out of thatched straws. And every hut had a small garden with picket fences to guard it to grow vegetables for self-sustaining purposes. Yet, in spite of the similarities between the huts, they had a thing or two to distinguish themselves from the others. Occasionally, there was a flock of chickens on the road she was walking on, pecking the ground in search for worms. There was a small stream in the middle of the village, dividing it in half. As she walked on the small, wooden bridge, she looked down below and could see fishes swimming inside the crystal clear, clean water. Then there were splashing sounds further up, and the fish scurried away. Helga looked upstream and saw kids swimming and splashing around, oblivious to the somber mood back at Marcelo's home.

Helga continued forward, thinking about her own problems, as she had her arms crossed while looking at her feet while still walking. Three days from now, she would depart from San Lorenzo and back to the miserable place that she called home. Was three days ample enough time to confess to Arnold about her feelings towards him? Would she be brave enough to tell Arnold during that three days time? Was her decision smart in terms of getting home so early? To face her sister, mother, and the most dreadful of all, her father? Was he really sincere that he missed her a lot and loved her so much? Or it was just a ploy so he could abuse her and her mother more? Somehow, she regretted that decision.

She stopped upon seeing a large, two storey building made out of stone next to her. It had an inscription carved on the two pillars at the entrance, and the smell of incense coming out aromatically from inside. There were four totem poles around the building, symbolizing that they were guarding it. Helga was getting curious; she wanted to get in to know more about this unique temple. But as soon as she took her first step, she remembered Arnold's words:

"…_don't go into the temple, or touch the totem poles…"_

She took a step back, and sighed in disappointment. She respected the local custom, and decided to walk away and continued to have a look around. Behind the temple, there was a cliffy hill, and on top of the hill, there was a barbed wire fence, with a large, rusty warning sign with a nuclear symbol and missile icon on it and a few words in Spanish and Russian written below them. Helga raised an eyebrow in incredulous surprise. She also noticed there was a red hammer and sickle symbol on it. A few stone's throws away from the temple, there was a hut, larger than the other ones in the village. Must've belonged to someone important, Helga thought. And after that, Helga returned back to Marcelo's house. It seemed that she had been walking around the village in a circle. As she arrived at the hut, she saw two old men, sitting on a self-made bench, talking to each other. Helga wondered what they were talking about.

"**Poor kid. No parents, no siblings, no grandparents…"** he shook his head and sighed, **"Who's going to take care of him?"**

"**The village headman is going to take care of him for the moment. And then it's off to—"**

"**The _gringos_?" **he shook his head,** "Man… I can't believe he's actually going to America…"**

"**Hey… Miles, Stella and Arnold are very nice people. They helped us a lot before, and they still do."**

"**Well, that's true…"**

"**Besides, there are plenty of bright sides to it. His future is much brighter there… I mean, they have UCLA, MIT, Harvard…" **he chuckled a bit and had his head looking towards the sky, **"What do we have? Hopefully when he comes back he'll make changes to this country."**

Curious as she might be, Helga then tried to forget the whole thing as she shook her head. She then saw Arnold walking out from the house with his head hanging in deep sadness. He stopped in front of Helga and gazed at her with his misty eyes. He took a deep breath, and with a somber tone, he said to her, "Marcelo's grandma just died." Helga widened her eyes in shock, and then lowered her head in grief. Arnold then continued, "They're going to perform some rituals at the temple, and bury her soon after that. It's a Green-Eye's tradition that the deceased must be buried as soon as possible."

---

_Later that night, at the Sunset Arms Boarding House…_

"Okay, okay, hold yer horses… I'm coming. I'm coming." Grandpa muttered to himself as he walked up to the phone, with the aid of his stick. He, along with his wife's health had been degrading rapidly in the past few years. Grandpa could do pushups up to one hundred a couple of years ago, but now, it had decreased to a pathetic eighty, and grandma could no longer clock a respectable time of five minutes on a one mile jog. Yet, despite of their lack of their fitness, they continued to live out their live fully and remained optimistic.

"Hello, Sunset Arms Boarding House." He introduced, "where rents are affordable and neighbors are suspiciously friendly."

"Hello, dad?" the voice on the other side of the phone spoke.

"Miles, is that you?" grandpa asked, almost in surprise. "He, he!" he laughed, in a geriatric, senile sort of laugh, "I haven't heard from you in weeks!" he then put a hand over the phone and shouted to her wife, "Pookie! Miles is on the phone!"

At that time, grandma was at the kitchen. She wasn't cooking, but unfortunately, doing a can-can dance on the table in front of three frightened, stunned and confused gentlemen which so happened to be the victims of this eye-boggling charade.

"I am… scared…" Oskar said, in a hypnotized sort of state, "yet I can't… get my eyes… off it…"

"I shoulda moved outta the house years ago…" Ernie said in regret.

"Yes…" Mr. Hyunh concurred. "I too… should move to my daughter's place."

Suzie emerged from the door from her day of shopping groceries, and upon entering the kitchen; she didn't like what she was seeing, "Yikes!" she gasped in shock and accidentally dropped the shopping bags full of groceries on the floor. "Oh, darn it!" she stomped her feet in distress, and proceeded to pick up what was left of the grocery items scattered around the floor. "Oskar, could you lend me a hand here?"

"Uh… what?" he was still in state of hypnotization.

"Oskar, snapped out of it and help me darn you!" Suzie shouted at her, and managed to snap the three men out.

"Well… better than watching the freak show anyway…" Oskar murmured to the other tenants. The other two nodded in agreement and walked away from the table.

"Oh, and grandma." Suzie said to her, "The phone rang, and I think it's Miles on the phone…"

"MILES?" grandma shouted in joy, and quickly ran to the phone where his husband was speaking with their son. Suddenly there was a wailing noise coming from Oskar and Suzie's room.

"Oh…" Suzie sighed, "The babies have waken up. Could someone make them some milk?" she looked around and saw nobody in the kitchen. Everyone had run away in a blink of an eye. "Anyone?"

Grandpa was pretty shocked to hear the terrible news from his son and ran his hand on his bald head in deep distress, "Oh… oh m-my… oh my God. My sympathies." Grandpa lowered his head in mourning. His wife who was cheerful before drastically changed her expression to a more sorrowful look. "So… do you really want to go on with the plan, son?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Miles reluctantly agreed, "What can I do? It's a promise that Stella and I tend to keep."

"What about Arnold?" grandpa asked, "Have you told him about it yet? You do know he's never supportive of the plan, don't you?"

"I know, dad. I know." He replied back, weakly.

Grandpa shook his head. "Boy, he's going to throw a fit when he hears about it."

"Well, he's just gonna have to accept the fact that the world isn't always what we want it to be." He replied. After he took a breath, he continued, "Dad, the reason why I call you is because Stella is on her way to Geneva this Sunday and the flight stops at the city for a few hours."

There was a slight pause, "Go on." Grandpa said.

"And we're hoping to put him on a same flight with her."

Grandpa was a bit surprised, "So soon?"

"Afraid so."

"Well…" he contemplated, as he scratched his head, "okay." Grandpa nodded weakly, as he looked at her wife with a concerned and worried look. Grandma had this same similar expression too. "Hopefully he'll make this place frenetic like it used to be. We haven't had a kid around the house since Arnold moved out with you, well, except for the babies. So… how are Stella and Arnold? Did you get the shipment I sent to you?"

Miles sighed, and replied, "They're good, they're good. Both of them are fine and well. You don't have to worry about them. And I got the shipment today, thanks dad."

"Yeah… oh, and your mother wants to talk with ya." He then gave the phone to his wife.

"Hi Miles. I'm so happy you called us." She said, beaming.

"Hi mom. It's good to hear from you too." Miles said with a soft smile. He was glad that his mother was hale and hearty, despite her claims of her health being degrading. "How are you?"

"Oh, ho ho…" she laughed, "You don't have to worry about me… it's your family you should be more concerned about. Say, is Stella still cooking those terrible food for you and Arnold?"

Miles looked at her wife. She was had a fire extinguisher on her hands to put the fire out on the stove. The fire was successfully put out, but it left the room with a thick fog. The both of them coughed a few times as they tried to fan the fog out through the window with their bare hands. After the room was clear, Stella was so frustrated with her cooking that she started to scream. Grandma could hear her screaming from the phone.

"I take that as a yes…" grandma said nonchalantly.

"Whoa… is that…" Helga asked Arnold. The both of them were in Arnold's room, talking about the incident that occurred today and about the Green-Eyed people.

"Don't mind her." Arnold replied back, "That happens at least once a month."

Stella then walked over to the living room and threw herself on the sofa. She then sat upright and had both of her hands clasping her face, sighing. She was extremely frustrated.

"I'll call you back mom." Miles said to his mother. He realized that he needed to comfort her wife right now.

"Yeah, I understand. "Grandma replied back. "I love you."

"Love you mom." He replied back, and put the phone back. He then walked up to his wife, sat next to her and had one of his arm on her shoulders. The other hand was put on Stella's lap and he rubbed it gently as to calm her down.

---

"Are you really certain about that decision, Helga?" Arnold asked her.

She turned her body around and looked at the ceiling. She then replied, "No." as she threw small plastic rubber ball at the wall. The ball bounced back but she couldn't catch it. She groaned in frustration as she banged her fists on the mattress in frustration.

"Then why did you make it?" He asked back.

"I wasn't aware I'm in an interrogating session, _Fútbol Cabeza_." She then reached for a random object on a shelf.

Arnold rolled his eyes. That didn't make any sense at all. "Come on, Helga. I'm really worried about this. Last night you said your dad did terrible things to you and your mom, but suddenly you want to go back? Why is that?" he shook his head. "What makes you change your opinion in a matter of seconds?"

"You do that, man." She replied calmly, "Keep on trying." She then shook the snow globe in her hands. It had a 'GREETINGS FROM WINTER HILLWOOD' with Rhonda's signature, couple of hearts and 'Miss you!' on it. "Did Rhonda really give you this junk? What a cheapskate, she is."

Arnold scoffed in disbelief, "Now you're being difficult. The heck is wrong with you?"

She then got up, "You really want to know?" She asked, as she threw the globe at Arnold, and managed to catch it in time. Although, it hit his stomach a bit. "It's your mother. She convinced me to go back. I was so stressed out when she asked me all that dumb questions back at the camp that I couldn't think right. Then she made me called my parents, and I talked to my mother." She shook her head. She really didn't want to talk about it, but Arnold made her do it. "Fortunately, she's happy to finally hear from me. Then I asked her about her wellbeing, and Olga. I didn't mention or hint about Bob, yet still she told me about him. She said he really has changed ever since I'm gone. He really regretted his actions and will do whatever it takes to have me back with my family. I say it's full of crap."

"You're still unconvinced, huh?" Arnold asked again, as he put the globe on the table.

"And the winner is you." She replied back sarcastically, "What does she think I am? She thinks that I'm _that_ gullible? I mean, they've been fighting for God knows how long and suddenly, it's all over and they finally made up and the whole world seems to bright and shiny again?"

Arnold looked at her, trying to answer back. "I guess… your decision by running away does unite them together. It shows that, your whole family cares about you Helga, despite of what you said. I mean… you said it yourself, right? Your mom had little sleep because she was worried about you… your dad called here everyday and tried his best to look for you all over the city with your sister…"

Helga was surprised by the given answer. "Wow…" she said as she looked at the ground, in contemplation, "now you're making me feel bad…" she chuckled weakly. "I've never thought of it before." She then looked at him, "So you're saying that I made a good decision then? Running away from home and all?"

"May be. Despite of what my mother said, personally I think it's a good decision."

Helga nodded weakly, with a smile began to develop across her face, "You think I should give them a chance?"

"I don't see why not." He smiled back, to give assurance.

Helga returned the smile back, "So… why is your mom going to Geneva?"

"Aside from being an aid worker for the Red Cross, she's also WHO observer for San Lorenzo."

"The '_Who' _observer?"

"You know… The World Health Organization. She's going to present a report about the Sleeping Sickness along with two other San Lorenzonian doctors."

"Ah…"

---

"Feeling any better?" Miles asked.

"A bit…" she chuckled weakly. Stella then shifted her body a bit and put her head on Miles' chest while having her hand next to her head while the other was put around her husband's body. Miles began to broaden his smile and began to gently caress her wife's hair. He then kissed her on the forehead and Stella smiled at the affectionate display. "Do you think that I'm a bad cook?"

Miles was too afraid to answer this question. It might be a trap. "Well…" he said nervously, trying to find a viable answer, "It depends…" wrong.

Stella lifted her head a bit, looking towards him, "On _what_?" she demanded.

"Uh…" came the nervous reply, "Depends on…" he knew he was in deep trouble if he told her what he actually thought about her cooking. So he just conjured up some ridiculous answer to save his skin, and to lighten up the mood, "wind condition, traffic, atmospheric pressure…"

Stella gave him a soft jab on his chest and laughed softly, "You moron." They then gave each other a kiss on the lips. They then looked deeply to each other, smiling.

"Dad said he's okay with the plan…" Miles suddenly said to her.

"It's expected. Your parents took a great care of Arnold when we weren't with him, and I think they'll do a great job with him as well."

"Problem is… Arnold is very against it. Remember the time when he got into an argument with his grandmother, trying to talk her out of it and all? The poor old lady couldn't understand a word he's saying."

"Heh…" she chuckled, "His Spanish was totally off back then. At least he has improved a bit now."

"So… are we're ready to tell him about it?"

"I know he's not going to like it, but we have to."

Miles then nodded, "Hey, Arnold!" He called him.

"I wonder what they want." Arnold said to Helga. "Hopefully it isn't about him…" he said as he got up from his chair and went to the living room. Helga decided to stay in the room, since they weren't calling for them both. Hopefully they wouldn't be discussing about her.

"Take a seat." Miles said. Arnold then sat in front them, with the coffee table in between.

Arnold then began to shake his head, like he was listening to a catchy tune, "So… is there a reason for my summoning, wardens?"

His parents then looked at each other with a serious look and shook their heads in disbelief. "Arnold…" Miles said, "It's about Marcelo. We've decided to bring Marcelo to America. His future will be brighter there."

Arnold began to furrow his eyebrows and his expression was everything but happy. He was totally furious about the decision.

"I know you don't agree with it, but—"

"Well, _of course_ I don't agree with it!" he yelled at them angrily. "Don't you guys realize what you're doing? America is totally different from San Lorenzo! And he'll be _all alone_ in that place!"

Calmly, his mother replied, "We know, we disagreed with his grandmother too. But… just look at the bright side, Arnold. He'll have a better—"

"NO!" he yelled, "Mom… please reconsider it. There are only 800 Green-Eyed people left in the world in comparison of 8000 before the war! And by sending him to America you're bringing him further from his people! HIS DYING CULTURE! And don't give me that one person doesn't change a bit junk, because it does!" Helga could hear the family arguing from the confines of the room. It pretty much shattered her every perception of Arnold's family of never been into an argument before.

"Arnold!" Miles said angrily. "Don't you raise that voice to your mother! We don't want to do this either, but we have to!"

"His grandmother wanted us to send him to The United States because she knows he'll have a better future there!" Stella said to her son, "And this is her last wish Arnold, and I suggest for you to respect her wishes!"

Helga slowly opened the door and could see Arnold looking back at his parents in defeated rage. He then promptly got up from his seat and walked out from the house, slamming the door. And everything went quiet after that. Stella and Miles looked at each other in disbelief. Miles shook his head, and sighed. "He didn't take that well, did he?"

Stella could only shake her head. Helga approached them, and looked at the door where Arnold slammed it earlier. Miles and Stella looked at Helga, and she looked at them back. "I think I'll go and see what's going on with that child of yours." She then walked out from the house. Stella then put her hands over her face and her elbows on the lap. "Why is this so difficult?" she said, muffled by the hands.

Helga could see Arnold at the veranda, sitting on a chair while looking at the night sky, deep in thought. She could also see chess pieces scattered all over the floor. She shook her head in disbelief as this was the first time she saw Arnold in an angry rampage. "I get the talk with your parents didn't go as smoothly as you were expecting." She then took a seat on another available chair as she too, look at the star covered sky.

"It's an insane idea." Arnold replied back weakly, with subtle anger imbedded in it. "I can relate with Marcelo though. I was an orphan once. I know the pain of losing someone who you love so much. But it's even more sad to know that he now has nobody to take care of him… all of his family members are dead… his parents… his brother, sister… his grandma… And they'll…" he shook his head, "never come back… and he'll never get a second chance or get to his family back because they're gone forever…"

Helga was saddened by his remark. A kid like Marcelo shouldn't bear the tragedy of losing all of his family members at such a young age, like Arnold. She tried not to say anything back to him, since she felt like he wanted someone to hear him out instead of having a discussion with.

"They'd still be alive if it wasn't for that civil war." Arnold shook his head, "Those power hungry morons… and despite of the ever growing crisis, nobody cared about this insignificant country."

"Arnold…" Helga tried to interject, "I heard there was genocide happened here. I'm sure the world took notice of it."

Arnold shook his head in disbelief. He felt that she needed to be educated, "Helga… have you ever heard of the Bosnian War?"

Helga raised an eyebrow. To where did he want to lead her to? She thought. She had heard of the war before, back when she was in grade school. But back then she didn't care much for what was happening at the other places of the world, but at least she had heard of it, "It's the war in the Balkans right? Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs…"

"Heh…" Arnold scoffed a bit, "It's funny, isn't it? When it got the world's attention, drawing every media group there was covering every inch of the war, places like Rwanda and San Lorenzo were totally neglected. Nobody cared. The only thing I read about San Lorenzo when we were in grade school was a small article in the newspaper about four paragraphs long in page 32, while the Bosnian War made the front page headline. And that war happened thousands of miles away, whereas San Lorenzo is just down south." Arnold shook his head, "If only the world cared, and sent help here earlier, the civil war would've been avoided. Marcelo's family would've been still alive, my parents would've return back home safely..." and at this point he started to say his words brokenly, and his eyes began to brim with tears, "and my brother would've been alive today." A tear rolled down from his eye.

Helga sympathized with his plight. With this little conversation with him she had discovered a new Arnold. She felt like he had always been optimistic and positive just because he wanted to conceal his depressed state from everyone. He didn't want his friends to worry about him had he been morose and melancholic every time when he was with them. Helga on the other hand, showed her aggressive side just to mask her tender side. She was pessimistic about her own life. She couldn't care less what her friends thought about her.

Arnold longed for his parents' love, as opposed to Helga when she was a kid, felt like she was confined and wanted to grow up to quickly so she could get out of the house. She realized that Arnold was her opposite, and because of that, she felt like they needed each other to bring balance to each other's life. If only she was strong enough to confess her feelings to him…

Helga brought her chair next to him, and sat next to each other. The both of them were staring at the beautiful blueish-black colored sky with bright stars dotted around the canvas. They were both deep in thought, and felt like the sky was their only way to cool them down. It gave peace to their mind and soul. Arnold then sat leaning back and had his arm on the armrest. Helga looked at it, and braved herself to take the gamble. Her hand was shaken, but she was determined to do it. She put her hand on his hand. Arnold was taken aback a bit, but he liked the gesture. He responded back by holding her hands tightly and yet, gently. It was… so warm… and comforting and soft.

"The sky is beautiful today, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes… yes it is." She replied back.

* * *

Thus the last scene sparks a plot about how Helga will, little by little, but eventually confess to him. This is just a buildup to a more developed relationship between them. How will it end? That's entirely up to me. Well, thanks for reading, and please give me some feedback. Thank you. 

BTW, I'm really sorry about this. I really can't resist my inner geek tendencies since it forces me to do it, so blame him:

_He responded back by holding her hands tightly and yet, gently. It was… so warm… and comforting and soft, _**_unlike sand._**


	15. Family

_Author's Note: _Firstly,many thanks to _acosta pérez josé ramiro _for helping me with the Spanish translations. Secondly, about this chapter. This chapter explains almost everything there is to know about the reason why Arnold's parents couldn't come back to him after they returned to San Lorenzo to help the Green-Eyes people. More of the Green-Eyes' background is revealed and San Lorenzo's history is explained in full detail. Arnold and Helga is getting more and more close. All conviniently wrapped in this somewhat long chapter!

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 15: Family

"_Saludos, gente de San Lorenzo. Este es Eduardo, oficial a cargo de las Comunicaciones para el Ejército de Resistencia. Elévense de las cenizas, mis amigos, pues hoy es un dìa glorioso para nuestra amada nación. Bajo la protección y dirección de nuestro amado Papá Manzano, las fuerzas revolucionarias han derrotado exitosamente al régimen autocrático y opresivo dirigido por el muy odiado Sombra; el cobarde está huyendo como perro apaleado en vez de defender su territorio mientras hablamos. Sus fuerzas están siendo guiadas fuera de Bolívar, y actualmente estamos persiguiendo al demente que trajo tanto sufrimiento a nuestra nación. Con la intervención de las Naciones Unidas, y bajo el auspicio de las Fuerzas de Coalición de los Diez Países, estamos llenando el vacío de poder en la capital dejado por el enemigo. ¡Regocíjense, mis compatriotas¡Nuestro tiempo ha llegado¡La oscuridad que había cubierto a nuestra nación por tantos años se ha levantado¡Una nueva luz brilla en cada rincón de San Lorenzo, trayendo paz, libertad y justicia para todos¡Nunca más estaremos bajo los pulgares de la opresión¡Ya no seremos víctimas de la tiranía¡Vengan, y disfruten de esta nueva hallada libertad celebrando en las calles¡Un nuevo San Lorenzo será libre, progresista, y unido¡Viva la Resistencia¡Viva la Revolución!"_

"Greetings people of San Lorenzo. This is Eduardo, your Chief Communications Officer for the Resistance Army. Rise from the ashes my friends, for today is a glorious day for our beloved nation. Under the helm and directive of our beloved Papa Monzano, the Revolutionary Forces has successfully toppled the oppressive autocratic regime led by the much loathed La Sombra – the coward is running like whipped dog instead of defending his ground as we speak. His forces are being driven out of Bolivar and we are currently pursuing the madman that brought much despair to our nation. With the intervention of the United Nations and under the help of Ten Countries Coalition Forces banner, we are filling the power vacuum in the capital left by the enemy. Rejoice, my countrymen! Our time has come! The dark shroud that has been blanketing our nation for many years have been lifted! A new light is shining into every corner of San Lorenzo, bringing peace, freedom and justice to everyone! No longer are you being held under the thumbs of oppression! No longer will you be the victims of tyranny! Come, let us enjoy this new found freedom by celebrating it on the streets! A new San Lorenzo will be free, progressive and united! Viva la Resistance! Viva la Revolución!"

-- Eduardo on the San Lorenzo Radio, after the coalition forces took over San Lorenzo's capital, Bolivar. (Audio Archives - San Lorenzo Library)

---

_Next morning…_

"Hey Helga… what are you doing after work?" Arnold asked her as he put some pancakes down onto her plate. Thankfully, Arnold was the one who cooked today instead of his mother.

"You think I have a choice in this place?" she replied jokingly. She was right, though. There weren't any places to go or things to do in San Lorenzo, unless of course if you were a nature junkie, then you could spelunk, skydive, hand gliding or do other various adventurous activities in this country. "Absolutely _nothing_." She added more with a mouthful of pancakes.

"All right, nice." Arnold replied. "Because I was thinking of bringing you to the Green-Eyed village again today."

Helga stopped munching after she heard that, "What for?"

"I wanna have a talk with the village headman and try to persuade him to not comply with Marcelo's grandma's wishes, and… I want to check on Marcelo again. You know, to make sure he's okay and all…"

Helga was in disbelief. She never saw Arnold so stubborn before. Why couldn't he go along with the plan? To her, she thought it'd bring more good than bad to the boy. Still, she wouldn't express her opinions regarding it since she felt that her voice had no place in this affair. "Arnold." She said, "Of course he's not okay. His grandmother just died yesterday."

Arnold sighed and shook his head, "Yeah. I know, I know." He said as he rubbed his forehead, "But I'm really concerned about him… you know what I mean?"

A soft smile was seen on Helga's face, "That's very brotherly of you."

Arnold chuckled softly, flattered at the comment.

"I think you should go alone Arnold. I think my presence is not needed there."

"Nah," Arnold shook his head, "I insist. Besides, you want to know more about them, don't you? I think it's a good opportunity for you to learn about them before you leave San Lorenzo."

Helga became worried all of the sudden. Time was running short for her to confess to Arnold, and yet she still wasn't brave enough to tell him. "Yeah…" she said weakly, trying to hide her worrisome, "I think I'll follow you there."

Stella then suddenly stepped into the kitchen, and was surprised to see that Arnold had done all the breakfast for her, "Wow…" she said in disbelief, stunned, "Unbelievable. This is… _amazing_. Why couldn't you be more helpful around the house when Helga wasn't here? Perplexing. Shocking." she teased. "You should've come here a long time ago Helga. He was hopelessly _lazy_ around the house before you showed up."

Arnold could only lower his head down and laughed weakly in embarrassment. Helga smiled softly at Stella's remark.

---

"Mona… you shouldn't walk around too much." Helga advised concernedly to the old lady, "I know you're recovering but you shouldn't push it too far. You might fall ill again."

Mona snickered softly and replied, "Oh, don't worry about me child." She said as she rubbed some antiseptic on a patient's arm she was holding. "I've been into the nursing business for some time now, and I can take care of myself pretty well."

Helga raised an eyebrow, looking at her in disbelief, "I thought you used to be in the rebel army."

She turned around, smiling at Helga, "I was, but that doesn't mean I'm not the medic too."

Helga was still unconvinced, "But you said you were just about as old as me when you joined them."

Again, with a smile and calm voice, she responded to Helga, "My father wanted me to become doctor, and I didn't want to disappoint him. I actually like the field, and romance surrounding the job. Even when I was in high school I showed a great interest in medicine and spent a lot of my time reading those boring medical books." She laughed softly as she reminisce the memories when she was young, "Then when I heard about the civil war in San Lorenzo, I kind of gave it all up and joined the rebellion. Father was very disappointed with me." She shook her head.

A dry smile slowly appeared on Helga's face as she shook her head in disbelief. "Man, you were crazy."

"Well… when we are young, we do a lot of crazy things." She smiled back, "Speaking of craziness, have you tell him your problems yet?"

Helga was a little bit stunned by her remark, though she was glad that Mona didn't suspect that she was harboring deep feelings for Arnold. She tried to remember how she slipped away in telling her about this person that she liked so much. Ah, it was about two days ago, when Mona tried to calm her down after she saw someone died of the Sleeping Disease. Helga wasn't upset that she told her about her problems though, since she felt like Mona was very encouraging and not trying to force or persuade her to tell her about Arnold.

"I have." She replied back.

Mona nodded, "Good." And she resumed her work once again. Helga was perplexed since she was expecting a more critical response from her.

"So… that's it? That's all you're going to say to me?" Helga asked in disbelief, "Good?"

"Yes." She replied, "Is there something wrong?"

"No…" she answered back. Although she was glad that Mona didn't have the tendency to dig more about her problems, she was also in disbelief that she was somehow not caring about it, judging from the tone, "I don't know… somehow I was expecting a long drivel from you advising me about it."

Mona could only laughed back, "Well, I did tell you that it's up to you whether you want to tell me or not, didn't I? I'm not going to force you to tell me about it."

Helga smiled back. She thought that this might be a fine time to tell her about it, "Uhh…" thinking again, she was reluctant about it. Perhaps not. Then she heard footsteps coming toward to them.

"Hey Helga, you're done?" Arnold asked her. Mona turned around again, and saw Arnold. She had a smile across her face and could understand that this was the boy that Helga kind of told her about. What a nice, outstanding young man, she thought to herself.

Helga nodded and turned to Mona, "Mona, I have to go now. We'll talk later, okay?"

She nodded back, "Okay deary." Helga then left her and walked along with Arnold to his jeep.

After seeing Arnold and Helga out from her view, Stella walked up to the old lady with her crossed arms. Mona looked at her, smiled and said, "They're so cute together, aren't they?"

---

The ride to the village from the sick camp was very rocky, and it was hard for Arnold to drive the jeep and the ride was uncomfortable for the both of them. But it was a standard fare for Arnold, since he had drove on even worse surface than this. Helga was getting more and more annoyed by the tumbling and shaking and felt like she was going to puke. It didn't help them both that the windows were up and the air conditioner was broken, making the condition even worse for Helga. She really needed fresh air right now, and opened the window.

"God, why did you pick this road to begin with?" Helga asked irately.

"It's the quickest route. 'Sides, it'll be all over in a couple of miles." He replied back. "And close the windows. Jaguars are a plenty in this area. Wouldn't want one of them to pounce into the car now, would we?"

Helga widened her eyes in fear, and quickly closed the window back again, leaving a slight gap to let some wind in. She tried to bear the stuffy condition inside the jeep. She then plopped back into the seat, letting a sigh out of her system. She hoped that what Arnold said earlier was true. "Why are we in such a hurry anyway? It's not like he's going anywhere."

"Hey, I want get out of this stuffy car as much as you do too." He replied, "Besides, I want out of this road just before sun sets 'cause this route is very dangerous during the night." And by looks of it, the sun was already at the horizon.

Helga realized that Arnold really was determined of wanting Marcelo to remain in San Lorenzo. But she never really knew the real motivation behind it, apart from leaving his people and being all alone in America, from what she heard from the argument between him and his parents yesterday. "You're really getting work up about this aren't you? To be honest Arnold, I kind of agree with everyone else. I think he'll have good future if he stays in The States. His grandma was just looking for his best interest."

Arnold was in disbelief. He found it hard to believe that Helga actually agreed with them of bringing Marcelo to America.

"Open your eyes Arnold. San Lorenzo has nothing to offer to him. There is a reason why your friend went to Argentina to study, you know."

"What do you know?" he snapped back angrily. "I'm protesting it because I don't think it's wise to have him separated from his people. His people and his culture are dying from the result of the war, Helga! And I don't want him to forget his people, which something he might do if we send him to The States!"

Helga gazed at him back in stunned disbelief. He had a big point regarding it. Many of the world's exotic culture had succumbed to rapid modernization, and Helga understood what Arnold was trying to tell her.

"Look Helga… I'm sorry I snapped at you." Arnold said back apologetically, "It's just… I'm upset, you know. His whole family died, and I just think it's an insane idea to bring him to our country where he has no friends or family around."

Helga nodded weakly. She commended Arnold for having a logical reason of wanting Marcelo to stay here, instead of having a blind belief without any rational explanation at all. But despite of it all, Helga stood affirm with her beliefs. Arnold explanation wasn't enough to sway her from her own opinions, and she didn't want to force her opinion down to others, as much as she wanted to right now. "How did his family die?" she asked, wanting to know more about Marcelo's family.

After taking a long, deep breath, Arnold replied with a solemn tone, "His parents were massacre victims, the UN found the bodies in a mass grave. His brother was about twelve when he was taken away by the rebels and was conscripted as a soldier. Died in his first battle from gunshot wounds." He shook his head. "His sister…" he paused for a while, "Helga, do you remember when we were in fourth grade, Ms. Slovak showed us a video of those starving kids in Eritrea?"

Helga nodded again.

"Well, when my mom was working at some other Red Cross camp in the country, she found the both of them in the same condition like those kids. Mom managed to save Marcelo, but it was… too late to save his sister…" he sighed sullenly. Helga shook her head, thinking just how this beautiful country could have such a violent, grimy past. After that, they just stopped talking to each other, and thought about the conversation they just had. A few minutes had passed, and they were back on the soft dirt road again, finally. "Man…" Arnold sighed in relief. "I'm glad that's over."

---

After passing through the gate, Arnold then parked his jeep next to the stream. He and Helga both jumped out of the vehicle and began walking to the village headman's house, not far from they were now. Even though it was already night and it was dark, Helga could see several people walking into a van in the distance near the gate. Arnold then informed her that those people were working at the Tourist Center as dancers. "You know, tourists get a kick out of those stuff." He shrugged. "Silly tourists."

Arnold then knocked the door of the headman's house, and a few moments later, a large, yet well built middle aged man opened the door and smiled upon seeing his visitors. **"Ah, Arnold, and his friend! Welcome!" **he greeted cheerfully, **"Come in, make yourselves at home!" **his wife then came into front door and greeted both Arnold and Helga. The home was pretty empty, Helga felt, since she had expected some children wandering about, playing with Marcelo or something.

"**Hello sir. I come here to check on Marcelo. Is he all right?" **he asked, in his not-so-fluent Spanish.

The headman expression became sad a bit, turning around looking at a room behind him, and replied to Arnold. **"I think you better cheer him up."**

Since Helga had been in the country for more than a week, and could understand a little Spanish from the lessons she received from the people she worked with, she understood a bit what the headman just said. She then interjected, "Arnold, I think I should be around with the kid for a while." Helga didn't know why she wanted to volunteer herself, she just blurted it out all of the sudden. Maybe she just wanted to get acquainted with Marcelo, or wanted to feel how was it like to be a big sister, or felt like he needed a sisterly camaraderie, since he already lost his due to starvation and malnutrition. San Lorenzo really had changed her a lot ever since her arrival over a week ago.

Both the chief and Arnold raised an eyebrow in stunned surprise. "Are you… serious?" Arnold asked.

Helga nodded back. "Yeah. I'll go cheer him up while you go and try to convince him with your inane excuses." Helga had changed, but her feelings about Arnold still had not. She loved him, and yet, hated him. A couple of snide and sarcastic remarks wouldn't hurt… much. Arnold smiled back. Though he knew that Helga wouldn't agree with him, he was also glad that she respected his opinions. He then turned to the headman, and told him that Helga wanted to take care of him for a while. He looked at Helga, smiled and nodded in approval.

Helga walked into the said room, and saw Marcelo playing with some marbles on the floor. Any electronic videogames or expensive toys had yet to come to San Lorenzo. He had this forlorn and wistful look on his face, even though he seemed to have a blast playing. His thoughts still lingered around his grandmother. He missed her so much. Helga then sat next to him, and said, "Hey pal. Having fun?"

He didn't turn to look at her, and replied in a weak voice, "Not really. You're Arnold's friend Helga, aren't you?" he asked.

"_For now… but soon, hopefully, I'll be… you know…" _she replied in her mind, "Yes." She replied to him. "Mind if I join in?"

"Girls in America play marbles too?" he asked.

"Not really." She replied back, "but I'm willing to learn if you let me play with ya."

---

"**But sir…"** Arnold pleaded, after saying thanks to the kindly wife that poured him a cup of tea, **"I really don't think it would be the best for him, or for your people."**

"**I know my people's population is dwindling Arnold," **the village headman replied from the other side of the table,** "but I do believe he will come back and make changes for the country and for my people." **The headman replied back, **"We Green-Eyes are a very persistent bunch, we survived countless wars and calamities, and we will certainly survive this."**

Arnold still had a very skeptical look on his face. **"But—"**

"**Son, trust me on this. He will not forget his people, or his culture." **The headman said assuredly as he put his hand on Arnold shoulder, **"Have respect for his grandmother's wish. She knows what she's doing."**

Even after an assurance and a confident smile, Arnold still had doubts about the decision of bringing Marcelo to America. He was disappointed because he felt like nobody was taking his opinion seriously. And so with a reluctant nod, he replied, **"I guess… I can't persuade you even further, sir. Please excuse me."**

"**Don't worry, Arnold. He'll be fine, just like my daughter."** He pointed to a picture of his daughter wearing a graduation robe with her people's traditional armband holding a Bachelor's Degree scroll in her hands, smiling proudly with her parents at both sides. She graduated from one of the most prestigious university in Mexico. Arnold then nodded weakly, got up from his seat and walked slowly to Marcelo's room. He stood at the door's threshold with his arm on it and looked at Marcelo as he played marbles with Helga. He was this worried look on his face as he thought concernedly about his future. After the last throw, Helga looked at the door and saw him. Arnold gave him a weak smile and walked out.

Helga was suddenly worried about Arnold, and felt like he was blowing this agenda out of proportions. She thought that he could use a voice of reason. She then excused herself from Marcelo and followed Arnold outside and saw him sitting on a bench, deep in thought. She then sat next to him, and said, "Don't you think you're blowing this a little bit out of proportion?"

"No." he replied, shaking his head, "I still say it's a bad idea."

"Man…" Helga scoffed, "You're so stubborn."

"Well, considering the fact that the civil war killed many of the Green-Eyes, of course I'm being a bit defensive about it!" he snapped back.

"They want to rebuild their lives back, Arnold! Don't you get it?" Helga retorted back. "They need someone in high expertise to help them rebuild their lives back and they _have_ to go overseas to learn since San Lorenzo has _nothing_ for them! You're a big obstacle, Arnold. You're immature! You're not looking for Marcelo's best interest! Some 'brother' you turned out to be!"

"Don't you lecture me, Helga!" Arnold replied back angrily, "What do you know? You're only a week in this country and you act like you know everything there is to know about this place!"

"I may be in this place for a week, Arnold, but in that one week, I've learned more than you do. You want him to stay on this place, exposing him to countless numbers of deadly diseases, unsafe living conditions and uncertain future, fine; but don't you come running when he falls victim to them!"

Arnold gazed at her back furiously, but couldn't think of any word to continue the furious repartee. The table seemed to turn on this one, as this was the first for Helga to be the voice of reason for Arnold, instead of vice versa. Arnold hung his head down, sighed, and could only answer back with, "You know, our place ain't no picnic either."

Helga looked at him, and furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to read his expression. "Yeah… but at least it's better than here."

Arnold scoffed weakly, "That's what my parents said."

Parents… Helga never really knew how Arnold's parents survived this place when they were in grade school. Hopefully he'd shed some light to her about it. "How did your parents managed to return back home safely, Arnold? After all those long years trapped in this country."

After a thought, he replied, "Let me tell you a little story about this country, Helga. You do know this country was run by communists, right?"

Helga raised an eyebrow, "A history lesson, wheee. What ever shall I do?" Helga joked snidely.

"Well, I'd suggest for you to hear it because it'll eventually lead to the reason why my parents were trapped in this country. You see that hill over there?" he pointed to the hill where Helga saw the warning sign yesterday.

Helga nodded, "Yeah?" she was curious about it also, but never really thought about it much. "What about it?"

"Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? The Soviets originally planned this country as an auxiliary place to store the nukes if Cuba got invaded again. So they asked the San Lorenzo government to build a missile silo, they agreed, and chose this place to build it. Problem was, this land was inhabited by the Green-Eyes first, but the government forced them out." he shook his head in disbelief. "Got kicked out from their own land… it was totally uncalled for. Not that it mattered though. La Sombra's government was very oppressive to his people that some people in his administration got very angry because of his tyrannical rule. And with the help from the victims like the Green-Eyed people, they managed to overthrow his government in 1984, after a long battle. La Sombra got away unfortunately, and lived his life as a smuggler for a while."

"Oh, you mean like a coup d'état?" Helga asked.

Arnold looked at her with a baffled gaze, "A coo-they-wha?"

She raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You don't know what it means?" she asked, "I'm disappointed Arnold. I'm very disappointed in you." She teased good-naturedly, "You lived in an unstable undeveloped country for four years and you don't know what it means?"

Arnold laughed softly in disbelief, "Actually, this is the first time I heard that word. I'm not a language nut like you Helga. Well, enlighten me."

"It means, a sudden overthrow of a government by a small group of people."

"Oh…" Arnold said, enlightened by her, "Wow, I have to remember that one. So… after the coup d'état," he tried the word for the first time, "Papa Monzano took over and this country became a junta state for a while. At this stage, he opened the country's borders and all the exiles and defectors, including my dad's friend Eduardo, came back home. This was where my parents met for the first time."

"Eduardo…" Helga tried to recall, "The tall guy with the 'stache, right?"

"Yep. His family exiled to Mexico. He then went to The States to study and met with my dad. He was the one who persuaded him to come over to San Lorenzo to research the ancient buildings here."

"The ones built by the Green-Eyes right? Wait, you said the Green-Eyes were a 'lost people' and was rediscovered by your parents, weren't they? But the commie government already knew their existence when they forced them out, didn't they? I'm sensing 'plot holes' here." She joked.

Arnold chuckled softly, and calmly replied, "Well, 'lost people' can be defined into many things Helga. It may refer that they have lost their way of life, or have not yet discovered by the modern world. In the Green-Eyes' case, my parents were the first Westerner to make contact with these people, but they didn't want the credit though since Eduardo have already made contact with them before."

"I see." Helga nodded. "That's very modest of your dad."

Arnold smiled proudly, and resumed his story, "El Sombra wasn't through with it, though. He needed weapons and manpower to retake the country back. He harbored hatred for the Green-Eyes for helping the traitors in his old government and planned to steal and sell the jade that the Green-Eyes considered holy, the La Corazon. But his plans were thwarted by my parents." He said with a smile.

Helga was amused. She felt like Arnold was ripping the story off from a cartoon or something. But she kept listening since it was very interesting.

"My parents decided to get married, I was born, and then they moved to the United States. Just slightly over two years later, Eduardo came back to them, asking for help. The sleeping sickness mutated into a new strain and only my mom can help them out. They reluctantly agreed to go back to San Lorenzo," at this point Arnold was telling the story with a heartrending tone, "and left me with my grandparents…"

Helga hung her head in sadness. She symphatized at him for being separated from his parents for too long.

"Seven years… I was raised seven years without them Helga. They couldn't get back because the day after they sent the medicines, La Sombra took over the capital, the borders was shut tight and the phone line was cut. Nothing and nobody could get in or out of the country, except for food, ammunition and medicine supplies. La Sombra pledged that the so called traitors will be executed on sight. They confiscated my parent's plane to patrol around the country and kill anyone who tried to flee. They repainted and modified it so they could justify to our government that my parents were… _'missing'_. La Sombra also ordered a massacre on the Green-Eyes since they were one of the reasons he was overthrown in the first place. Over 7000 people were murdered in the span of seven years… and the world turned a blind eye, because they were too preoccupied with the war in Bosnia." he closed his eyes tightly as he took a deep breath.

"Still, my parents were optimistic that they someday could make it out alive from this island, but until then, they worked as aid workers in the Red Cross along with some other foreigners who were trapped in this country. But they could do only little since food and medicine supplies came a few times in a month, and it always weren't enough. And they had to protect the Green-Eyes who seek refuge in their camp from La Sombra's army. My parents were accused of being a CIA agent by them," he laughed weakly, "and were held at gunpoint many times. Thankfully Father Campbell was there to persuade them from killing my parents. He really has my gratitude for saving them, the aid workers and the refugees many times in that seven years period."

Both Arnold and Helga smiled weakly.

Arnold resumed his story again, "Eduardo and Monzano on the other hand, were hiding deep in the mountains along with the resistance, trying to find a way to overthrow La Sombra. They know they couldn't stand a chance against him because his men were better equipped then them, so the only thing they could do was to get reinforcements. They reused the same plan: sending someone in the middle of the night out in the sea hoping for some boat from a neighboring country will pick him up. All others who did that mission earlier either died trying or got shot. It was a suicide mission. But eventually one person managed to get picked up by the Puerto Rican Coast Guard and told them about the situation in San Lorenzo. Outraged, the UN condemned La Sombra and sent peacekeepers there to help. This was the help that Eduardo and Monzano had hoped for. Our country spearheaded the offensive and helped the resistance. Bolivar fell within hours. La Sombra, once again, was driven out."

"A few weeks after Bolivar fell, The new San Lorenzo government organized a essay competition in the United States to have one lucky kid: me, because I won that competition, and his class to go on a trip to San Lorenzo to show to the world that it was safe once again to travel here." He then suddenly laughed, "You want to know to funniest thing?"

Helga nodded, smiling a bit to lighten the mood since she saw Arnold's face brightened up once again.

"The essay was just a ploy to get me into the country because my parents knew that I will enter it. Since my parents couldn't get out due to the UN's internal quarantine because they don't want the Sleeping Disease to spread or let the public know about it, they pleaded to Eduardo to device a plan to bring me here. So Ed came up with this essay competition and the entries were sent to schools in our country. I entered obviously and sent my crappy essay."

"Oh, so that's why you won. That was blatant biasness." Helga joked.

"Who cares? I united back with my parents didn't I?" Arnold replied with a smile. "It was… the happiest day of my live when I saw them. I cried for days. My parents would just hug me tightly, not letting me go."

Helga smiled at him, "It's a happy ending, and I'm glad that it ended that way, Arnold." She said to him. Deep in her heart, she was hoping for her story to have a happy ending of its own when she arrives home this Sunday. Then, the village headman's wife popped out from the front door and looked at them, **"Arnold, would you and your friend like to have dinner with us?"**

Arnold turned to Helga and asked, "Wanna join them for dinner?" she nodded. Arnold then nodded at the lady and said, "_Sí._" The old lady smiled, and walked back in. Arnold and Helga got up from their seats and headed for the dining room. Helga saw Marcelo still in his room, curling in his bed. She was concerned, and it her concern was shared by Arnold.

"Arnold…" Helga said, "Could you tell them that I want to stay here for the night?" the request shocked him.

"Really?" he asked. "How come?"

She looked at Marcelo. Arnold was surprised because she was never this compassionate before. By now, he really liked her a lot for all the good things she had done, "Okay, I'll tell them." He replied with a soft smile. "But I won't stay with you guys though. I promised my dad to help him with some of the manuscripts he just found in the ruins. I'll pick you up tomorrow early in the morning."

* * *

Well, that's about my view why Arnold's parents couldn't return back home. Again, some of storyline are reference to _The Journal, Parents Day_ and the never released _The Jungle Movie_. Thank you for reading, and please leave a review.  



	16. Intimate

_Author's Note: _This is sort of a fun chapter to write, because it gives me plenty of oppurtunities to expand Arnold and Helga's relationship. Nothing sappy though, just straight out, clean, laid-back fun because I want it to parallel to the Hey Arnold canon - something that I'm targeting ever since the first chapter was uploaded. I'm planning to finish up this story as soon as possible, so I can do other fics which are currently in development. Well, enough of my rants. Here it is.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 16: Intimate

Dear Esteemed Visitor,

Welcome to San Lorenzo. Thank you for choosing our country as your destination for complete and total relaxation and leisure. We assure you that you will have a splendid time vacationing in our beloved country. Our hospitality will surely attract you to the many of the colorful destination scattered in country and will make you crave for more. We have a variety of fun, fulfilling adventures just waiting for you. Visit our white, warm sandy beaches and indulge yourself at one of our most prominent natural hot springs to unwind, relax and to forget all of your problems. Let the warmth of the tropical sun or the bubbly hot spring melt away your worries and concern. If you are one of the more adventurous types, San Lorenzo offers a plethora of activities for you to enjoy. From whitewater rafting to rock climbing, it's all here in San Lorenzo.

-- San Lorenzo's tourist brochure (Introduction – Page 2).

---

The village headman was kind enough to let Helga sleep in his house for the night, and allowed her to sleep in his daughter's old room. Morning came, and Helga slowly opened her eyes after hearing the chirping of tropical birds outside of the house. She had a good sleep last night. She yawned a bit and walked up to the window and opened it to let the light and the wind breeze in. To her surprise, she saw a key-like amulet hanging on the shutter, the kind that Arnold and his parents had wearing around their necks. She picked it up and examined it. She rubbed it to get a feel of the newly acquired item and turned it around many times. It was made of wood, carved in very excellent detail and the color green was dotted in the middle. She then looked outside to see if there was any footsteps left the person who hung it on the shutter. No clues whatsoever.

She shrugged it off and walked out of her room as she put it in her pocket. The village headman and his wife were at the dining room, eating breakfast together with Arnold. Marcelo had yet to wake up. All of them smiled at Helga. When Arnold meant it, he really meant it. He was very punctual and delivered his promise of picking her up early in the morning. The wife then said something Arnold, and he said to Helga, "She said she'd be very happy if you'd join us for breakfast."

Helga gave them a smile, which the lady replied with a contented beam. She offered a seat next to Arnold and without hesitation she quickly walked to her seat. After making herself comfortable, she brought her head near to Arnold and whispered to him, "Man, you're early. What up?"

"Nothing… I just don't want to break my promise. I did promise you I'll pick you up early today, didn't I?"

"Pfft." Helga scoffed back, "Dude, if you hate your mom's cooking just say it man." And they both laughed softly. The old married couple was curious of what were they talking about as they looked at them with a soft smile. They kind of reminded them of the days back when they were youths.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" Arnold asked.

"I cheered Marcelo up, and helped him pack for his trip to the US tomorrow."

Arnold frowned, as he looked back at Helga with his eyes furrowing.

"He said he's looking forward to it." she replied back to ease his worrisome.

He then shook his head in disbelief, "I don't want to talk about it. It's too early in the morning. C'mon, let's just eat our breakfast so we can go out and have some fun."

"Ooh. Intriguing." Helga replied with a smile, "And where that might be, Sir Football Head?"

"Remember the day when I promised you that I'll bring you to that waterfall before you go back home?"

Helga widened her eyes in surprise. Perhaps that would be a nice place for her to confess, given the romantic atmosphere emitting from that area.

"I brought my camera." He showed it to her. It was an excellent and impressive camera that was ideal for any aspiring photojournalist such as Arnold.

"You got my approval, Arnold." She said back, nearly laughing at his giddiness and enthusiasm. "But first you need to drive me home first. I need to change and take a shower."

"Ah, that would explain the foul smell that I thought was coming from a carc—"

Slightly offended, but amused at his idiotic humor, Helga gave him a not-so-gentle nudge on the shoulder and said "Moron." But despite of the gentleness, he fell from his seat from the nudge given by her. He was such a wimp, Helga thought to herself as she pointed and laughed at him. Arnold could only stare at her in embarrassing defeat as he tried to combat his urge to shove her back.

---

_Arnold's House…_

As Helga was about to take off her pants, she felt something inside of her pocket. She stopped changing and reached for that something inside. It was the amulet that she found at the window back at the headman's house. She slapped her forehead in disbelief. How could she forget such thing? In her mind, she imagined that she might've offended the Green-Eyed people for taking something not belonging to her and thusly triggering a conflict between her and the villagers. And by now she imagined, the villagers were already armed to the teeth with pitchforks and shotguns and were on the march to Arnold's house, seeking for her. She then snapped herself out from the outrageous imagination by shaking her head. She walked out from her room to seek clarification from Arnold's family, since they knew almost everything about the Green-Eyed People.

She saw them at the kitchen table, talking amongst themselves, mostly about Marcelo's fate. It seemed that Arnold was still stubborn about his opinion, though the discussion was not as vehement as two days ago. It was more like a casual talk that a family usually had. "Um…" she interrupted, "I'm sorry to interrupt." The three of them turned to Helga.

"Yes Helga?" Miles asked.

"I found this," she showed them the amulet, "at a window when I was back at the Green-Eyes' village. I'm freaking out here. Did I just do something wrong that might offend them?" she asked worriedly.

Arnold, Stella and Miles looked at each other in a expressionless look, but then, the three of them smiled broadly at her and Miles said, "Congratulations Helga."

Helga raised her eyebrow in confusion, "For what?"

"You obtained the key to their trust and friendship. The amulet symbolizes that you are now a part of the community. A member of their people." Miles said proudly. "Be proud of it Helga. They usually don't trust outsiders."

"What did you do to get that?" Stella asked curiously.

She laughed disbelievingly, "I don't know," she said back as she stroked her hair, "Probably it was because I… took care of Marcelo yesterday."

"Maybe that's it." Arnold said to his parents. "That's so awesome Helga. Now the only thing you have to do now is get tarred and feathered and walk on a stretch of hot coal to make it official."

"No they don't have a ritual like that, you silly." Stella scolded him as she smacked his shoulder softly.

"Perhaps they should, and Arnold should be honored by being the first person to do it." Miles said snidely to tease his son.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna have to agree with you sir." Helga nodded approvingly. "He was humiliated in bunny pajamas before, and seeing him getting tarred and feathered would be greatest thing ever done."

"Oh yeah, the bunny pajamas incident." Miles said cheerily. "His grandpa made hundreds of copies of that picture."

"Ooh, I love that picture!" Stella exclaimed, "He's so cute and cuddly in that bunny pajamas!"

At this point, Arnold felt he had hit the lowest of low. His parents and his friend were making fun of him without showing any mercy or pity at all. He just sat uncomfortably on his chair in silence as his face flushed in red due to the extreme embarrassment of listening to all of the stories being told by them. A gun would be a welcoming sight by now… so he could shoot himself.

So after Helga did what she had to do, Arnold then brought her to the magnificent waterfall that he told to her earlier. It was _the _waterfall that nearly claimed the lives of his parents. Much had changed at that place since his parents nearly fell to their doom. Vantage points were paved, guardrails were installed and coin operated binoculars were scattered in many places surrounding waterfall. A newly opened local souvenir slash gift shop and café was opened for visitors just two days ago. Tourists from all over the world came here to view the beautiful work of nature, taking pictures and buy a lot of useless junk that was made in China. Arnold and Helga went into their tourist mode and asked for some random person to take their picture. At the last minute before the random person took a snap, Helga suddenly pushed Arnold away from her, making the picture looked comical and funny. Arnold's expression on his face looked like someone who just got shoved a pointy object up his—

Moving on, as they walked on the esplanade, Arnold continued to take snaps of the many human activities, such as a local who was selling novelty wooden trinkets in the middle of the pathway, a person who was walking around selling colorful hats and Helga eating a chocolate bar vigorously, even more so than Chocolate Boy. Helga quickly grabbed him by his shirt collar and threatened him that she will personally threw him into the raging waterfall if he wouldn't delete the picture. Arnold quickly complied with her threat and deleted the picture. They then looked at each other.

Arnold had a nervous gaze while Helga had an angry scowl. "Man, you should've seen the looks on your face Arnold." The expression on them both cancelled each other's look and they began to laugh softly as they turned away, slightly embarrassed. They then continued their snapping spree, asking strangers to take their pictures in various pose, from the overdone 'Titanic pose' to the unintentional 'Helga scowling at Arnold for accidentally misplacing his hand pose', though she liked it.

After taking enough pictures, they decided to quench their thirst at the newly opened souvenir slash gift shop and café. They took a seat outdoors overlooking the raging waterfall as the soft breeze cool them down on this otherwise warm day. The atmosphere was nice enough to warrant tender moments between them both. They sat facing each other as they waited the waiter to arrive. This was a very, very awkward moment for them both. Ugh, they both felt like they were grade school kids again. The awkward silence was interrupted when the waiter came to them, bringing the menu.

"Mango juice." Arnold said to the waiter, and he nodded as he jotted the order down.

"Your ice-cream special of the day." Helga said. After he wrote the order down and saying thanks to them, he took the menu away and brought the order to the kitchen. Again, there was an awkward silence between them. Helga was looking at the scenery while Arnold had his head placed on his hand with the elbow on the table while the other hand was on the table drumming the fingers. This had gone far enough, and Arnold decided to have a small talk with her. Helga on the other hand was very reluctant to confess to Arnold, even though the atmosphere was ripe for it.

"You… like ice-cream a lot, don't you?" Arnold asked.

What kind of a stupid question is that, Helga screamed in her mind. "Yeah, I like ice-cream. I can't resist it." she answered somewhat politely without any scowling.

"Me too." Arnold replied back, nodding. "Resisting it is kind of hopeless, considering the savory of the taste."

"Yeah…" Helga nodded slowly, "I think my existence will be meaningless without ice-cream." This somehow reminded her of the dumb ice-cream analogy she used when she wanted to talk about Arnold with Phoebe many years ago. Somehow, the conversation was eerie similar with what she had in mind if Arnold wasn't around with her. Her life would be meaningless if Arnold wasn't around.

"So uh…" Helga said, "Are we going anywhere else after this?"

Arnold suddenly had this novel idea, "To the top." He pointed to the top of the waterfall in the distance. "Ever tried bungee jumping Helga?" he said with a wicked grin.

---

"Are you sure this is safe, Arnold?" Helga asked nervously as someone strapped some safety equipment and the bungee cord onto her.

"Don't worry about it." he said assuredly. "I've been on this thing many times. It's 100 percent safe. If you don't believe me, just ask my pal Jose over here." He pointed to a skinny, average height guy next to him with his thumb. He was the supervisor for the jump. "Isn't it right, man?"

"_Sí, sí._" He nodded in agreement, "You no need to worry, _señorita_. All equipments are always checked twice before we allow the person to jump."

"See?" Arnold said, smiling at her.

"I swear Arnold, if I'm dead, I'm going to haunt you and throttle you in your sleep." She pointed at him threateningly. After saying thanks to the person who fastened the safety equipment on her, Helga turned around and looked down below - some 300 feet from the platform she was standing on. Somehow all the courage she had was missing in a blink of an eye. She was too scared to take a dive.

"Did you tell her that two people were killed when jumping off from this place?"

"Nope." Arnold said with a devilish smile. _"This is for _all _the stuff that you did to me when we were kids, Helga. Ah, revenge is soooo sweet…"_

"Oh well…" Jose shrugged, took his hat off and placed it on his heart. "It's been nice knowing you, _señorita_." He then pulled a lever and the platform that Helga stood on suddenly collapsed, plunging her into the waterfall chasm below.

_"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH MMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDD!"_

Helga survived fortunately, and the first thing she did after she was freed of her safety harness was running towards Arnold and tried to kick him on the shin. Arnold managed to dart away from the attack unfortunately, and ran away cackling as Helga continued to chase him around. Jose just looked at them while chuckling at their outrageous antics. Arnold eventually got tired and Helga quickly made her move by pinning him down to the ground with a move she had learned from watching pay-per-view wrestling she used to watch when she was a kid. After the dust settled, the both of them laughed and they dusted each other off. All those monkeying around made them hungry.

The both of them then walked up to a food stall that sells local cuisine. Arnold recommended her a food that was totally foreign to her while trying very hard to conceal a malicious smirk by rubbing his nose. His revenge was not over yet. After paying the hawker, they then took a seat under a parasol that was readily available for the customers. Arnold waited for Helga to take the first bite. He bit his lower lip as he greatly anticipating for her to take the bite. Just before she sank her teeth in to the food, Helga looked at him, and saw the silly giddiness that Arnold was displaying. She brought the food away from her and asked, "What's with the stupid grin?"

"Nothing…" he replied back, barely hiding his excitement. Helga just shook her head in disbelief at the idiot in front of her and took her first bite. Immediately Helga began to cough and hack, and her eyes were all watery. Both her tongue and the innards of her mouth were burning. The burning tasted like a combination of chili pepper, Tabasco and wasabi.

"Water… I need water…" she said desperately as she tried to cough out the food she was eating. Arnold, being a gentleman he was, gave her a bottle of drinking water. She drank it all up empty as Arnold watched while laughing joyfully. Helga then gave him a snide smile and suddenly she gave him a punch on the face.

---

"Sorry Arnold…" Helga said apologetically as she tried to apply first-aid on Arnold's nose. "I didn't mean to punch you that hard…"

"Gently… gently! Ow, ow…" he then rubbed his nose to have a feel for the bandage that Helga just applied on him while she put the first-aid kit back inside of the trunk. Thankfully she had learned the first-aid basics when she worked with Stella. Helga went back to the driver's seat and looked at him with pity. "Now I know how Eugene feels like…" Arnold said as he looked at his image on the side-mirror.

"I'm really sorry Arnold." Helga said again regretfully. "I was really angry when you pulled that prank on me that I lost control…"

"Nah," he held up his palm, "It's okay. I guessed I went overboard on that one. I feel… I kinda deserved this." He pointed to his nose. The both of them laughed weakly. Suddenly there was flapping sound coming from above them and a parrot flew out from the tree and headed towards the setting sun. The both of them smiled at the marvel and majestic view that was being unfold in front of them. "I think we should go back home."

"I agree." Helga nodded. She then went around the car and sat next to Arnold as he started the engine. They realized that they were actually spending the whole day trying to kill each other off. A day had passed without Helga confessing to Arnold, even though she had uncountable opportunity to say it to him. She then let a depressed sigh as she looked at the moving scenery outside of the window.

---

After nearly half an hour of driving, they eventually arrived at Arnold's house and saw a smaller jeep parked next to his father's vehicle. "Father Campbell is visiting." Arnold said to Helga. Arnold opened the front door and saw his parents and Father Campbell at the living room having a friendly conversation as they sipped a cup of coffee.

"Where have you two been?" Stella asked them suspiciously.

"Uh, just hanging around at the waterfall." Arnold explained to them. "Father, what are you doing here?"

"Akh, just 'ere to say goodbye to ya mum before she leaves for Geneva tomorrow." He explained to them, "I heard the lass is coming with her too?"

"Yes Father." Helga nodded. "But I'm not going all the way to Geneva, though." She laughed weakly.

"Aye, aye." He nodded, "Ya kinda disappointed, are ye?" he laughed.

Helga smiled back dryly, "Yeah…"

"Well, sorry to interrupt you two. Go about yer business." Arnold and Helga then nodded and said thanks to the jolly old man. They then proceeded to go to Helga's temporary room and closed the door. Father Campbell raised an eyebrow.

"The both of ya just let them go inside together?" he asked Miles and Stella.

"Relax Father." Miles said, "They're not going to do anything. You're here."

"Tired?" Arnold said as he took a seat on the computer chair.

"Well, duh." Helga replied back, smiling. "I think I need have a rest and pack my clothes after that."

"Yeah. You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

Upon hearing that, Helga was disappointed of herself. Probably she'll never have the courage to confess her love to Arnold. She hated herself because of that. "Yeah…" she said weakly, nodding.

Arnold nodded weakly. "Okay then. Call me if you ever need me." He then turned around and walked out. Helga let a sigh of disappointment. But Arnold suddenly stopped at his tracks, and turned around again facing Helga. "Helga… I… actually has this to say to you… you know, before you leave."

Helga raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You've done remarkable things these past few days, and frankly, I am impressed of what you've done to the people all around you. You… you really made a difference in their lives, Helga."

Helga was astounded at the compliment, "Thank you." She replied modestly.

"I don't know how to put a better word into this, but you really have won my heart." He then slapped his forehead in disbelief, "look at me, I sound like a fool. I know it's kinda quick, but I really, really like you Helga. Heck, would go as far as to say that I… I… love you."

The confession struck Helga as if lightning struck her million times over. She was taken aback, flabbergasted and shocked. Arnold understood the perplexed gaze that she gave to him and said to her, "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that. I was, crazy… I wasn't thinking straight." He replied nervously, trying to cover it all up.

Helga got up from her seat and walked up to him. It made Arnold all jittery.

"Please Helga… I-I… oh boy. Please don't hurt me…"

But it wasn't a punch that Helga gave to him, but rather, a tender, affectionate kiss. Arnold was totally shocked with his eyes widened, but soon he accepted it and went along. They released their kiss and Helga immediately gave him a tight hug. "Oh Arnold… you have no idea how happy you made me…" she said with a happy smile, with a tear rolling down from her eye. Arnold could only smiled back, laughing softly in joy.

* * *

:) Too early? Too quick to confess? Lousy dialouge from Arnold to Helga? (Coming from a guy who watches _Gilmore Girls_) I'm having doubts myself. I just thought it'd be better if Arnold confesses instead of Helga. The day Helga confesses to Arnold is the day hair starts to grow out from our ears. It's _that _long. And I hate waiting. Well, I greatly anticipating for your feedback and stay tune for more in the future. Thanks all.  



	17. Night

_Author's Note: _Surprise, surprise. I update a lot faster than I used to. :) Upon reading the last chapter, I think it warrants a massive rewrite, as I feel the last one was a bit rushed, had too many grammatical errors, and not up to the standards along with other chapters in this story. As for this chapter however, I'm very worried about the chemistry between Arnold and Helga that it might not work. Why do I always sound pessimistic?

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 17: Night

_Dear Helga,_

_Hi, it's me, Arnold. I don't know whether you want to reply to this letter back, since I am very pessimistic considering that you've never replied a single letter to me ever since I left for San Lorenzo, but at least please read this to the end. I am very concerned about you._

_The reason why I wrote this letter is because Gerald emailed me the other day - as usual, updating me about the gang. And you are no exception. He told me that you've been very depressed these past few weeks lately, and yet nobody knows why. He tried to seek clarification from Phoebe, but she wouldn't disclose anything about you. Maybe it's because you've told her not to tell anyone and she respected your wishes. Still, I agree with Phoebe and applaud her for not revealing it to us. She's a good friend and is very loyal to you. It's hard to find true and honest friendship that you are currently enjoying with Phoebe._

_I'm not going to ask you to tell me about it or anything, because I feel it's up to you whether you want to tell me or otherwise. I just hope by reading this letter it will cheer you up, considering the last letter that I sent to you was several months ago. Yet, despite of my letters not being sent as frequent as I used to, I assure you that I will not stop writing to you. You are my friend. I will cherish our friendship as long as I live. The reason why I couldn't write frequently to you nowadays is because my responsibilities here are getting hectic each and everyday. Ever since I learned to drive a couple of months ago I've been assigned by my parents to deliver a lot of things, from food supplies to medicines all over the country. It's a tiring job, but hey, the reward is priceless._

_Helga, don't be sad. I'm sure whatever predicament you're facing will clear up on its own. One thing that I've learned by living in this country is that life can be harsh and unforgiving, but with sheer perseverance you can pull it through and made it out alive. I'm sorry if I sound very preachy, but it's the best advice that I could offer to you. Be strong. Hopefully this letter will leave a shine and smile on your pretty face. Hey, flattering compliments are nice._

_And I hope the picture of hot guys on the beach on the other side of this postcard will cheer you up, should my words fail to lift your spirits. If you have the time, why don't you come to San Lorenzo and meet me here? I could show you around and be your willing chauffeur for the whole day of you wanted to._

_With best regards,_

_Arnold._

_PS: I feel like writing snail mail today._

-- Arnold's letter to Helga that arrived two days after Helga ran away from home.

---

The computer room that served as Helga's temporary room wasn't big, but it was big and comfortable enough for Arnold and Helga to spend time together lovingly. They were lying next to each other on the somewhat deflated inflatable mattress looking out of the open window at the night sky full of stars with a bright full moon. Wind was blowing gently as the flutter of trees broke the silent night. Crickets chirped and waves pound the beach in distance and yet it still could be heard by them. The lamp was switched off to make the atmosphere even more romantic. The only thing that was emitting light was from the full moon and the 'on' light indicator from the computer. Helga had her head on Arnold's chest, as they held each other's hand and Arnold gently caressed her soft, nice-smelling hair. No conversation was changed between them, as they both wanted to savor this moment and cherish it forever.

For Helga, this was a moment that she had always imagined when she was little, and now, her dreams had come true. A new chapter was beginning. No more soliloquizing to an inanimate object. No more secrets. No more getting into insane hijinks that would degrade her reputation as a tough girl. Arnold was here and for her alone. And he was everything that she had imaged in her mind. The boy of her dreams finally embraced her with a truthful, honest and sincere heart. The effort that she put ever since when she was three finally paid off. She was very happy of her accomplishments. And for over one week, one week in this country in her sad little existence, it made her happy. Hopefully, their relationship will never end up in pieces.

Ever since Helga came into town, Arnold tried to ignore all the spiteful comments that some of his friends had written to him about Helga. He never believed them. She was nothing like the person they portrayed in their letters. In fact, she was a complete opposite. She was an angel. She opened her heart and helped people when they were in need. She was the Helga that Arnold had imagined ever since he was a kid. A kind, helpful and caring Helga, with bit of a spice of sarcasm, spunkiness (the lack of better term) attitude and wittiness sprinkled in her character. Helga, the down to earth, smart and compassionate girl. He never had any luck with relationships before, and hopefully with Helga it would change.

"Hey…" Arnold suddenly broke the silence, "So the thing back at on top of the building when we were nine was—"

"Crimeny, must you nitpick some incident that happened a long time ago?" Helga said jovially, "That's all in the past, Arnold. I don't want to think about it. We were kids. I was psychotic and insane back then, but now I am very level headed thank you very much."

Arnold smiled at her, "And I thank God for that."

They laughed softly.

"You said you had a crush on me when we were in grade school." Arnold said to her. Helga rolled her eyes in disbelief that he still wanted to talk about the past. She had revealed to him that she had a major crush on him, but wouldn't go as far as telling him that she liked him, liked him very much ever since they were three or built a shrine of him out of garbage because it would freak him out. Probably further down in their relationship in the future, she would divulge it to him when the time is right. "Why couldn't I see that?" he shook his head in disbelief.

"Probably because you were too dense and stupid." Helga said teasingly, yet, honest about it.

"Yeah, my mom says that often." He agreed with a good-natured tone, surprisingly. "So… how did you react when I told you guys that I was going to leave for San Lorenzo years ago?"

Helga's face suddenly turned blue. All those bad memories suddenly were channeled into her mind again. After taking a deep, depressed sigh, she replied, "I was… devastated. I was too overcome with shock that I couldn't do anything. I just sat on my bed in my room, reflecting on all those words, trying to get it into my mind little by little. Then it came to my realization that I might never see you again, and I… just cried."

Arnold listened attentively to her story. Somehow, he felt guilty for doing that to her.

"I knew there isn't any way to convince you to reconsider because at that time you're pretty much more than willing to follow your parents to this country. I could understand, though. Your guys have been separated for so long that the bond is somewhat strained. I was devastated and angered with your decision, but I respected it and felt that it was an excellent way to reconcile with your parents by following them here. I envy your family Arnold. I always hoped and prayed that mine would be just like yours… but it never came to be."

"The time will come when your father sees his ways and apologize to you and your family. I'll assure you." Arnold then caressed her hair gently and gave her a peck on the head to calm her. Helga closed her eyes tightly, smiled and sighed blissfully. "Man, Helga. I didn't know that I my decision made such an impact on you. I thank you for being so considerate… and I'm sorry Helga, for making your life so miserable. I'm really sorry."

"Your happiness comes first, Arnold." Helga replied back, smiling. "But then, eventually I went on with my life, trying to forget the whole thing and buried it deep inside my heart. The feeling became dormant. Maturity kicked in and I laughed at all those crazy things that I had done to you when I was a kid. Still, I treat you as my friend and I always greatly anticipate for your letter to arrive. Your letters always give me joy and pleasure in my otherwise miserable life, Arnold. And I am very thankful for it. They really light my day up. After I read them countless of times, I'd write a reply. If there wasn't any letter coming from you, I'd write to you, chronicling the days that I've been through and tell them to you. The only thing that regret is I was too scared to send them to you."

Arnold laughed softly, "Oh, so you _did_ reply, but never sent it. Why are you scared? It's not like I'm going to hate you for writing them."

"To be truthful, that's what I'm afraid of because you might stop sending letters to me. Your letters mean worlds to me, and I don't want it to stop." They looked at each other with a smile on their faces, and gave each other a peck on the lips. Again, they went silent and cherish the moment again, looking out of the window. If only moments like this last forever.

---

"It's quiet in there." Stella said suspiciously.

"Almost too quiet." Father Campbell agreed.

"How suspicious..." Miles concurred.

---

"What sort of trouble will I get into once I come back home?" Helga asked all of the sudden, in complete randomness.

Arnold chuckled a bit, thinking about it and replied, "Most likely you're gonna get grounded."

She nodded back, agreeing with him, "Expected, but not immediately I think, since I'll be living at my sister's house for a while and my parents would probably go easy on me."

"Probably." Arnold nodded.

"For how long?" Helga asked again.

"I don't know…" he shrugged, "Probably five, six—"

"Weeks?" she interrupted.

Arnold continued again, "—ty years…" they laughed softly again, and tightened their grasp of each other. Helga made herself more comfortable by repositioning her head on Arnold's chest.

"Mmm…" she moaned in total satisfaction and relaxation. He was so warm and comfy. Helga then turned her head to her left for a while and saw a picture hanging just above the computer. "You know, I've been wondering about that pic." She said as she pointed to it. It was a big picture of a menacing looking face with two large eyes with very small pupils, small nose and the tongue stretched all the way to the chin with sharp canine teeth grew on both sides of the mouth.

"Yeah?" Arnold raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you have that picture in every room in the house? It's so scary."

"It's supposed to be scary, Helga." He replied back, smiling. "The Green-Eyes believed that it'll ward off evil spirits. We got those pictures as a gift from a shaman in Marcelo's village."

"And you believe that?"

"Not really. But it's important to understand the local culture so we won't offend them. Besides I think that picture is doing his job well. There aren't any snakes sneaking inside the house ever since we put them up."

Slightly shocked, Helga lifted her head up and turned to Arnold, looking at him worriedly. "Snakes used to come into this house?"

Arnold smiled broadly. "Yeah. You see that hole over there?" He pointed to the hole the size of a fist at the corner of the room. Both of them began to laugh but Arnold continued his explanation. "Listen! Listen to me!" he said as he laughed with Helga, "That hole is their way in to this house. They come in through that hole, they exit through that hole!"

Helga then hit him playfully in random places many times for not telling her earlier. And due to the lack of light, she could be hitting anything on his body. "Did you deliberately not wanting to tell me about it?" she said, accompanied by laughter, "I could've got killed you moron!"

"Ow! Hey! Hehe! C'mon, I was joking!" He replied back cheerily, "Ow! Not the nose, not the nose! AAARRGHHHH!" he let out a painful shriek.

---

Outside of their room at the living room, Miles, Stella and Father Campbell looked at each other worriedly, in uncomfortable silence upon hearing Arnold screaming like a girly-man.

"I don't think that was Helga screaming…" Miles said quizzically.

"Aye, probably the boy." Father Campbell agreed. "I heard that scream once back at the orphanage when he got chased by a hen."

Miles and Stella looked at him in disbelief, "A hen?"

Father Campbell nodded as he took a sip of his coffee, "Mm-hmm. Ya know, city boys - pansies."

---

The lamp was switched on again by Helga so she could examine Arnold's nose where she hit earlier. He was sitting on the mattress, rubbing his nose to inspect the damage. Thankfully, it didn't bleed again. "Oh, come on you crybaby." Helga scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard of a hit." She sat next to him and gently caressed his nose as though she wanted to heal it. Arnold smiled at the affectionate display and wrapped his arm around her. They then lied back on the mattress, leaving the light on.

"What do you think of San Lorenzo, Helga?" Arnold asked her.

"Better than our place." She replied back softly. "Sure, there isn't any cable – or TV station for that matter in this country, but the thing that won my heart about this country is their people and their places. I guess, I sorta becoming just like you Arnold. After nearly over a week staying here, I don't think I wanna leave."

"Unfortunately you have to tomorrow." He tightened his grasp on her.

"Yeah…" Helga replied in a whispering tone, as she shifted her head upper towards Arnold's head and put her hand on his chest.

"And Marcelo… man, I still can't believe they want him to leave his country…"

Helga lifted her head upwards and looked at him in the eyes, "Arnold, listen to me. San Lorenzo _has _nothing, I mean, _nothing _to offer him here."

Arnold let out a depressed sigh, "Oh God, not this again…" he got up and sat upright. "Why do I _even_ bring it up in the first place?" he shook his head.

"I'm serious, Arnold. He will have a future there."

Arnold still was unconvinced. He's sticking to his believes. Bringing Marcelo to America will invite nothing but trouble. He shook his head and said, "No… his place is with his people. I won't let hundreds of year's worth of culture and heritage gone instantly because of future generations like Marcelo is leaving San Lorenzo. I just won't have it."

Helga went silent and contemplated on Arnold's word. "Then you're blind."

"What?" he snapped back.

"He told me yesterday, that he wanted to become an engineer when he grew up. After he has completed his studies in America, he would travel back to his country and help his people by building roads, dams and houses to make their lives easier. If you take a look at their country, they're in shambles… dilapidated and destroyed. The capital is a prime example of this. If you're just as forward looking as the little guy, you would understand. His grandmother made the right decision. Think about it."

Arnold found it hard to avert his eyes away from her. What she had said was true. San Lorenzo was practically destroyed due to years of war, famine and oppression. And the only way they could get away with it all was with attaining knowledge. This explanation had been pounded onto his head many times, but only now he could finally see it, all because Helga told him that Marcelo wanted to help his people. "But, what about his people?" he asked.

"He won't forget them." Helga replied back, "You see this?" she took the amulet that she just received from the Green-Eyes out from her shirt that she had wore it around her neck and showed it to him. "I'm practically a member of their people, and I will constantly remind him of them. All he need is a… I don't know, people like us to guide him. You know… like a sister, or brother."

"_Brother…" _Arnold lowered his head in deep thought. Marcelo lost his brother and sister to the war. Then he looked at Helga and himself. It then suddenly came to Arnold's realization on how he could make Marcelo not to forget about his people. He had this brilliant idea that he just had to tell his parents right now before it was too late. He smiled at Helga and said to her, "Thank you Helga."

Helga smiled at him quizzically, "For what?"

Arnold brought his head closer to her, "Thank you for making me realize that the problems that Marcelo and I are facing can be solved in the simplest solution."

Helga broadened her smile, "And what is that?" she too brought her head closer to him.

"You will see soon enough." Arnold replied back, and they both smiled. Their lips quivered and they could feel the spark. The closed their eyes, and let their feeling flow through. As they about to touch their lips onto each other, there was a loud knock on the door.

"OY!" shouted Father Campbell, "Ya kids wanna join us fer dinner?"

Arnold and Helga had no other choice except to abort the kiss. They looked and smiled at each other laughing softly, and were very angry at Father Campbell for ruining the moment. "Coming, Father." Arnold replied back in a disappointed, annoyed and yet, polite tone. Father Campbell nodded as he laughed softly to himself. He then went to the kitchen and gave Stella and Miles a high five. They all made a pact to interrupt them just before dinner.

"You go ahead." Helga said to him, "I need change for a while." Arnold nodded and exited the room. He went over to the kitchen and saw them waiting for him and Helga. Arnold decided this would be the best opportunity to tell them about his idea.

"Mom, dad." Arnold said, "I've been thinking about Marcelo lately… and I uh…" he rubbed the back of his head, somewhat reluctant to tell them about it, "Marcelo can go, but only under one condition."

Miles and Stella looked at each other quizzically. They were happy that Arnold finally agreed with the decision, but was quite surprised of the proposition that he wanted to unveil to them. So Miles said to him, "Arnold, you are in no position to negotiate. The decision is made final ever since Marcelo's grandmother asked us to do it."

"I know, I know." Arnold said, "But just consider this as a request from me: If Marcelo goes, I go too." He said.

After she changed, Helga walked out of door and saw Arnold discussing with his parents about the idea that he told her earlier. She went closer to find out what was he trying to say. Arnold was still unaware of her presence behind him.

Stella shook her head, couldn't comprehend what Arnold was trying to say to them, "What are you trying to say?"

"Please allow me to go back to America. I will take care of him there." And just right after he finished that sentence, Helga screamed a joyful scream. Arnold turned around and saw her leaping onto him and managed to catch her in time in his arms. She hugged him tightly. Arnold shared the enthusiasm as well.

"_Whoa… they really do like each other." _Miles thought to himself as he smiled at the kids. He turned to his wife, and saw Stella had this 'deep thinking' look on her face. He wouldn't make any presumptions, though. Father Campbell had this broad smirk as he looked back at Miles.

"So mom, dad. Can I?" Arnold asked.

"I don't know…" Stella said skeptically, crossing her arms. "Are you sure you want to go back to The States just because of Marcelo and not anything else?"

Arnold smiled at Stella, and then he smiled at Helga. "I guess subtleties aren't my forte, now are they?" he looked back at Stella. "Kidding, mom. I _do_ want to go back home because of Marcelo, and her as well," he looked at Helga, "_and_ grandpa and grandma, _and_ my friends because it has been so long since the last time I met them."

"But who'll deliver the supplies for us?" Father Campbell asked.

"Father, come on. There are more than enough UN workers in this country. I'm sure there won't be any shortages or delays just because I left. One person doesn't make any difference, you know." This statement completely contradicted the previous one that he said to defend his decision about Marcelo.

"So you're saying that you want to leave this country permanently?" Miles asked him.

"No dad," Arnold replied, "I will return back to San Lorenzo after I graduate from college. Besides, grandma and grandpa could need my help around the house, considering their age."

"Which means we're gonna get separated again." Stella said somberly, hanging her head.

Arnold's enthusiasm died down sharply, and he slowly released his grasp from Helga. He then walked up to his mother, took a seat next to her and said as he gazed deeply at her eyes, "Mom, please don't say that. It really scares me the thought of separating from you guys again. You know neither of us wants to get in that kind of ordeal once more. But… this is something that I have to do. Marcelo needs guidance from a big brother like me, and I really want to help grandma and grandpa manage the boarding house. Besides, my college years are just around the corner. Please… let me do this."

Stella gazed deeply at his eyes, as drop of tears roll down from her cheeks. She sniffed a bit, and put his hand on his Arnold's cheek, gently caressing it in a motherly touch. "You've grown up." She said weakly. Arnold got up slowly and hugged her mother. "I allow you." She said.

"Thank you mom. Thank you very much." Arnold said happily in a broken voice as he tightened his grasp. Helga too shared the moment with them. She and her mother weren't always close, but when there were moments like this happened to her once in a while, she loved it.

"Don't worry honey." Miles interjected, "The San Lorenzo we're living in now is much safer than the one under La Sombra. It's more stable, safer and not to mention Sombra's army is very weak. It could be anytime soon that someone in his army defect to the government and turn him in." he turned to look at Father Campbell, "Father, are you crying?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Aye…" he said sobbing, as he dabbed his eye with tissue paper. "To see a son reassuring his mum with such genuine honesty… it really touches me heart…"

---

After dinner, Arnold went back to the computer room, accompanied by Helga. Upon entering, he excused himself from Helga's company for a while and switched the monitor on. "What are you doing?" Helga asked as she took a seat on the mattress.

"Writing an email to Gerald." He replied back whilst opening the internet browser. Helga was curious, and then she decided to join him and looked at the monitor as she hugged him from behind. Arnold wrote:

_What up, dawg?_

_Dude, I know this is such a sort notice, but I'm coming back home tomorrow – that is, if there's any tickets left available for me. Yeah, you heard me, man! I'm coming back to the city to meet you guys, 'cause I miss all of you a lot, man! But first, here are some things that I'm asking you to do. C'mon, be a pal and help me, k?_

_1. **DO NOT TELL ANYONE! – **I can't stress this enough. Don't go and tell anybody I'm coming. Not Phoebe, not Timberly, not your parents, _nobody_. I don't want to create a scene at the airport. Further elaboration will be explained after you pick me up. Let's just say it's a surprise… again I reiterate, **DO NOT TELL ANYONE!** _

_2. Pick up my grandparents before you go to the airport. – Though he ain't admitting it, grandpa has poor eyesight now and letting him drive the Packard is just unthinkable. If they decline, just say you insist on taking them. Oh, butter up my gramps if you wanna drive the Packard. I know you _really_ want to drive that heap ever since you got your license. :)_

_3. According to my mom's flight, (hopefully my plane schedule is just as same as hers if I got my ticket by then) my flight will touch down on Sunday at Hillwood International, which is tomorrow, around 9:00 PM. United Airways from Costa Rica. _

_Hopefully you do all the things that I ask, and with any luck I will see you tomorrow. It's good to finally coming back home, man._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Arnold._

Helga raised an eyebrow and looked at Arnold, "Hugs and kisses?"

"Heheh," he chuckled nervously, "We like to freak each other out." he replied back as he pushed the 'Send' button.

"How very mature!" she exclaimed sarcastically. Suddenly there was a boom and crackle of gunfire coming from the distance, and everybody in the house jolted in shock.

"What's that?" Helga said frightfully. Arnold quickly grabbed her hand and brought her to the living room where his parents and Father Campbell stood nervously. They were just as shocked as them.

"It happened again…" Miles said to everyone.

"What? What's going on?" Helga reiterate again in a horrified tone, as she held Arnold's hand tightly.

"Calm down. It's nothing." Father Campbell said to assure her.

"The government army is launching a full scale attack on La Sombra's hideout again. It usually happens when they got a tip-off from someone." Stella explained to Helga.

"Kinda quick, don't you think?" Arnold asked, interjecting.

"I think somebody defected and told the Monzano's army where La Sombra is hiding. That's the only explanation." Miles added. "C'mon, let's go outside and see where it comes from." As they ran outside, a helicopter flew above them and went towards to a hill some faraway distance from the house. They could see bright reddish-orange color of various ammunitions shelling the hill with occasional booms coming from there, brightening the surrounding area up. Fearful screaming from wildlife animals could also be heard. Arnold's neighbors joined them and some of them even took pictures of the assault. Arnold and Helga held each other tightly, to remind each other that they were going to be safe.

"Don't be scared." Arnold whispered softly, as he caressed her hair. Helga nodded weakly and held him tightly as she put her head on his shoulder, not wanting to see the attack. Suddenly, after minutes of intense attack, it quiet down. No exchanges of fire, no bombings, no shelling, no shouting, absolutely nothing.

"It stopped…" Father Campbell said incredulously.

"Quick, turn the radio on!" Stella said to Miles, he nodded and he quickly ran back into the house to switch the radio on, as everyone followed him from behind. After Miles found the frequency to the news breaking news, he began to translate it to the people who followed him.

_"Gente de San Lorenzo…"_

"People of San Lorenzo…"

_"Esta es una gran noche para nosotros. Hemos recibido la confirmación oficial de que..."_

"Tonight is a good night for us. We've received official conformation that…" Upon hearing the next sentence, he repeated it again with joy.

_"La Sombra acaba de rendirse..."_

"La Sombra has just surrendered…"

_"Junto con su ejército!"_

And by now everybody was cheering happily when Miles translated the last sentence to them, "along with his army!" and Miles joined the celebration, not caring what the rest of the news had to say. Everyone and everybody were happy to hear that the most hated person in San Lorenzo was finally captured after years of oppression, slaughter and famine.

"Well, that ended with a bang wasn't it?" Arnold said to Helga and they hugged each other in blissful happiness. They too were happy that the people San Lorenzo could no longer live in fear that La Sombra would came into power again.

"They're gonna celebrate it in the streets tomorrow." Arnold said to Helga. "Tomorrow is gonna be a great day for everyone!"

* * *

I c_ould've _end this story right now, but I won't since there are still loose ends that are untied and there are still more stuff to be revealed in this story. And also I'm a nice guy. Thank you all for reading and please leave a review.  



	18. Goodbye

_Author's Note: _The Return of The King and Queen back to their hometown. Almost every loose ends are tied, and despite of the chapter's title, this is not the end of the story. I have more to explain in the next upcoming chapter. This chapter emphasizes somewhat off-the-wall humor to counterbalance the hard drama of the previous few chapters. But nothing too crazy though, because that's just not my style. Okay, here we go.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 18: Goodbye

The United States Travel Advisory to San Lorenzo.

Official Status: Discouraged from Traveling.

Cause: Although it has been declared safe for visitors by the Government of San Lorenzo, some parts of the country is still hostile to foreigners, particularly to those who live in Western countries. American citizens who are traveling to this country are advised not to travel to the northern parts of San Lorenzo as military activities are on going and present. If it is absolutely necessary to travel there, be advised to hire a guide and do not bring your identifications as it will provoke hostilities from the anti-government militia and their supporters.

Hostilities: Kidnappings of foreigners, military activities.

Immunization: Travelers are advised to undergo proper immunization at their local healthcare center before heading to San Lorenzo. Be wary of the Sombra disease. For further detail about the diseases in San Lorenzo, please refer to this link.

Natural Hazards: Atlantic Hurricane Season from June to November. Landslides are frequently reported but are not very devastating. The last volcano eruption was in 1987, and as of now the Volcano Cabrakan remains dormant.

---

_Morning…_

Helga brought her laptop to Arnold's room and showed it to him. Her wallpaper now was adorned with the picture of her shoving Arnold away yesterday and he chuckled softly at her choice of decoration. The main purpose that Helga brought her laptop to his room was to show the letters to Arnold that she had written, but never sent to him. Upon opening the folder, Arnold was surprised to see archived letters dating all the way back to the first letter he had sent to her.

"Wow… this is amazing Helga." He said in awe, "This is like… every reply to every letters that I've sent to you."

"That's just the half of it." Helga replied back, "I have ones in paper that I put in a binder back home."

"Man… I don't know what to say." Arnold shook his head in disbelief as he read the first letter he opened. "This is crazy… and yet… I'm touched."

"I'm glad you like it." Helga said, smiling softly at him. As Arnold occupied himself with the letters, chuckling and smiling at every sentence that he read, Helga let him be and scanned around the desk where the laptop was on. On the desk, there was a picture of him and Gerald before they hit puberty, a group pic of the gang at the boarding house's stoop – which Helga remembered vividly that it was the day before his departure to San Lorenzo, a picture of his parents, a picture of him and Marcelo, assorted stationary in a decorative oversized mug adorned with signature of his friends, and a picture of baby Arnold. She grinned upon seeing it.

"Aww," she said with a sarcastic tone, "Baby Arnold in his diapers, crying for mommy." Arnold looked at the picture that Helga mentioned, and his face turned red in embarrassment.

"Consider yourself lucky to have seen the rare and priceless picture of Arnold when he was a little tyke." He replied back jokingly.

Helga chuckled back softly and grabbed it, "Hey, how come it's all dirty?" the grimy picture had traces of dried mud, was torn slightly and burn marks on it.

He took a deep breath, smiled a bit and explained to her, "That was the only picture of me that my parents possessed when they were trapped in San Lorenzo years ago. Every time when they were about to give up hope on living, they would look at the picture, and remind themselves that there was still hope and gave a reason for them to continue on living. If it wasn't for this picture…" he sighed as he took the picture from her and gazed at it deeply, "well, I can't imagine what could happen to them."

Helga looked at him back, gazing at him deeply. She carved a soft smile and replied, "In a certain way, you saved your parents' lives, didn't you?"

Arnold nodded weakly, "Yeah…" and put the picture back on the desk next to the picture of Marcelo and him. He shifted her eyes momentarily on that picture, focusing on Marcelo's stubby leg. "First thing tomorrow morning, I'm gonna bring him to Dr. Steiglitz and get him a prosthetic leg. He's still working there, isn't he?"

Helga nodded, "Yeah, the old man knows how to take care of himself. I don't think he's going to retire soon." She too then gazed at the picture of Marcelo, "So how did he lose his leg?"

"Well…" he let out a heavyhearted sigh, "Shortly after he recovered from malnourishment, he went to some place far from the refugee camp to play with some other kids, and then bam, he accidentally stepped on a landmine. It was a miracle he survived." He shook his head.

Helga felt depressed when she heard the explanation, "Well, his grandma made the right decision then. This place is too hostile to have a kid raised in an environment like this."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Miles came into the view. "Hey, you guys are all packed?"

Arnold and Helga nodded, "Yes sir." The son replied.

"Good." Miles nodded, "We should be going now. The airplane is scheduled to leave San Lorenzo in…" he looked at his watch, "One and a half hour from now."

"Okay, dad." Arnold nodded as he got up, along with Helga.

"Oh yeah, Arnold." He called him, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." He replied back. "Helga, could you leave us for a second?" Helga nodded and walked out from the room to go to her room to pick her stuff up. Miles then closed the door, put his hand on Arnold's shoulder and brought him to his bed where he could have a father-son conversation.

"Helga's a nice girl." Miles nodded in approval, somewhat in discomfort of talking about her with his son.

Arnold raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes nervously, "Yeah, she's an amazing person." He tried to remain calm. Hopefully this wasn't one of those embarrassing 'birds and bees' talks. Besides, he was already too old for that kind of talk. Still, he remained pessimistic.

"You know, when she first arrived here, I had this negative feeling about her… probably because of that jerk Bob that made me think that she was just as same as him. But when I heard that she got kicked out of her house and all… well, I feel sorry for her."

Arnold let out a huge sigh of relief when he heard that. It wasn't one of those 'talks'. "We all do, dad. We all do." Arnold nodded weakly, in relief and agreement with his father.

"It also made me distrust and hate Bob even more because of that. So, Arnold, I'm asking you a favor here: If you heard Bob acting stupid towards his family again – especially Helga, you go to her and help her. Bring her to the boarding and house and protect her. Call the cops or the Social Services if you need to."

"I will pops, I will." Arnold nodded.

"I know you will." He smiled as he laughed softly at him, "You've been really responsible here, and I hope you'll be just as responsible taking care of Marcelo and Helga there."

"Yeah, dad. I'm not going to break that promise. I mean, c'mon, it's me, right? You know me. I won't leave my responsibilities away."

"How about that one time when—" he said teasingly.

"Yeah, _one_ time dad. Just _once_." He laughed back, remembering that one day where he left his responsibilities. "At least nobody got hurt when the truck exploded."

"Yeah, yeah." Miles said as they laughed together, "C'mon. Get out of here." He patted Arnold's back to shove him out of the room. But just before Arnold left the room, Miles recalled what Father Campbell had told him about Arnold and chickens. This would be a great opportunity to make fun of him. "You know, grandpa just built a new chicken coop back home."

Arnold widened his eyes in alarm and terror, and he quickly turned around and looked at his father, "Are you… _serious_?"

Miles tried to wipe off his broad grin, "Yeah. I called him yesterday, and the coop had some twenty hens in it."

Arnold received the news with great doubt. Then when he realized that his father used the word 'hen', he knew he was bluffing and thought Father Campbell had already told him about it. "You're lying." He said with a nervous grin.

"Hey, it's up to you whether you want to believe it or not." He smiled broadly at him.

"Yeah, n-nice try dad. I'm not afraid of t-those... birds anymore." He replied anxiously with a smile.

"Cluck cluck."

"Dad, seriously. Stop it." Arnold replied back, getting tenser.

"_¡__El Pollo Diablo!_" he pointed to something behind him. Arnold jumped away frightfully as he screamed like a girly-man, but when he looked back, he saw nothing. Miles was laughing his butt off.

"Dad, stop it!" he yelled back in embarrassment and quickly exited his room.

"What's a matter Arnold? _Chicken_?"

---

After Arnold, Helga and Stella put their bags in the trunk, Miles climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. Miles gave Eddy the guard a wave and he replied back with a friendly salute as he lifted the gate up. "Honey, could you take a detour to the camp for a while? I need to pick up my laptop before we leave." Stella said to her husband.

"Sure." Miles nodded and turned the vehicle around.

"Wait, mom," Arnold said, "We're passing through the cemetery, right?"

It took a while before either of his parents replied to him. Stella turned back, looking at Arnold and said, "Yeah… why?"

"Since I'm not going to be here for a while, wouldn't it be respectful if I pay him a visit before I leave the country?"

---

The wind was sweeping calmly, yet it ruffled some of the trees and leaves were blown out of them, landing in different places in the cemetery. Arnold walked up slowly to the small grave under the large tree on top of a small hill, accompanied by his parents and Helga. Helga was holding his hand while his parents did the same, holding each other's hand tightly. Stella was seen weeping openly. Arnold stopped upon reaching the grave, lowered his head and read the tombstone. After contemplating for a few words, he said, as if he was saying to a living person, "Hey bro. It's me… your big brother Arnold. Just came here to tell you that I'm leaving the country for a while." Miles closed his eyes and Stella's eyes began to mist. Helga kept silent.

With a heavyhearted sigh, he continued, "I don't know when I will be coming back, but just so you know, even when I'm away from the country, I won't forget you. You're my brother. Even though we never met each other, I still feel there's a bond… a connection between us." He then picked up the decaying familiar blue hat from its spot and swept some of the leaves and dirt off from it. "But I promise I will return back. Hopefully we will see each other again…" He then put the hat back and said, "Rest peacefully." Again, Helga lowered her head in respect, and along with Arnold, they took a step away and let his parents the chance to mourn.

---

"This won't be long, I promise." Stella said to Miles, once they arrived at the sick camp. Helga got out of the car and made Stella perplexed at her actions. "Where are you going?"

"Going to see Mona for a while." She said as she ran off into the makeshift tent. She scanned around upon entering, but Mona was nowhere in sight. She wasn't at her bed nor was she attending a patient. To seek clarification, she walked over to the nearest nurse she saw to ask about her whereabouts. Helga spoke to the nurse in Spanish mixed with English, but the nurse could understand what she was saying. She then pointed out that she was at the back. "_Gracias_." She thanked the nurse, and headed out back. She ran up the hill, and saw many graves as far the eye can see. Her heart began to pound faster. She began to panic. She wouldn't want to believe it.

"Over here, Helga. I'm not worm food yet." Someone said behind her. Helga turned around, and saw Mona planting crops on a small plot of land. Helga let a huge sigh of relief as she smiled and waved back at her.

Helga then calmly walked up to her, and observed her as she tilled the land with a hoe. "Wouldn't that tire you? Could you just ask some guy to do that for you?"

"The reason why I stay so healthy is because I'm doing this thing, deary. Besides, this is the least I could do to repay back. I don't have any money." She replied back smiling as she continued her work. "Grab those seeds over there." She instructed as she pointed to a packet of seeds on a stump. Helga walked over to the stumped and picked it up.

"Pineapples, huh?" Helga said as she gave the packet of seeds to her.

"Yep. Everybody loves pineapples." She replied back, as she threw the seeds on the ground. After she took a breath, wiped the sweat beads on her forehead, and asked her, "So you're here to say goodbye? Go back home and embrace capitalistic society again?"

Helga chuckled disbelievingly, "Yeah… that's why I'm here." She then ran her hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck, "Mona… I thank you for everything, for talking to me when I first arrived here, for comforting me when I was in despair, and for… giving me strength to tell him… Aaaa-A-Ar…" she wanted to say his name, but she couldn't and she didn't know why. Her tongue became frozen again. It sounded like a capybara coughing a hairball whilst convulsing into involuntary spasm.

"Arnold?" Mona helped her. Helga nodded with a soft smile.

"Yeah, that's the guy."

"Good girl." She smiled back at her. "I wish you happy days in your future."

"Thank you." Helga nodded, "And uh… I want to make a promise to you." She said to her, which made Mona confused for a moment.

"And what is that?" she asked back, wanting to know about it.

"You know… I love this country, and I… feel like you're my grandma right now." She said as she grabbed on of Mona's hand, slowly caressing it gently. "That's why, someday, I will come back here to see you again. That's my promise to you."

Mona was absolutely touched and grateful, as she released the hoe from her hand and put it on her heart. "Oh child, please…" her eyes began to brim with tears as she shook her head in denial. "Please don't make promises that you will not keep."

"No Mona…" Helga shook her head, "I will keep this promise. And… here's my address, if you ever want to contact me." she showed her a piece of paper. It contained her street address, her phone number and her email as well. Mona rolled a tear down as she smiled at her, and finally she hugged her. Helga accepted the embrace and hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you, child. Thank you very much." She cried with tears of joy.

---

At the Green-Eyes' village, everybody was gathering at the village headman's house to say goodbye to the lucky kid who was about to embark a journey of a lifetime. Well-wishers waved , teased, congratulated, and kissed Marcelo as he walked out from the house with his bags accompanied by Arnold and his family.

"**Don't forget to write!"** a girl said, who was just as old as Helga and Arnold.

"**Behave yourself okay?"** an old lady shouted to him with a teasing tone, **"Or Arnold will send you back!"**

"**Get me one of those Pony SlayStation that I've heard so much, all right?"** one of Marcelo's friend said to him as he playfully shoved his head down. Then there was a playful scuffle and the fight was immediately broke up by the people around them.

The village headman's wife then gave him a kiss on both of his cheeks and said to him, **"Make us proud, okay?"**

"**I will." **Marcelo said softly, smiling. And then he hugged the old lady tightly. Helga then opened the door to the back seat for him, and he climbed in. She then closed the door, turned to Arnold and said to him, "Sure there's a lot fanfare going on here."

"Well, the villagers are a close-knit bunch." Arnold smiled at her back as he went into the jeep, as Helga followed suit behind him. But Arnold didn't budge from his seat and said to her, "What are you doing? I want the window seat. Get in from the other door."

"Well, tough luck, _Football Head_. I want the window seat. So shove off to the middle." She retorted back.

"No way." Arnold replied back, still not giving up his seat. "You go around and sit on _that_ seat." He pointed to where Marcelo was sitting, on the opposite window seat.

"Hey, I want this seat!" Marcelo whined back angrily.

"Shove off." Helga said as he shoved Arnold irritably, getting tired of this shenanigan.

"_You_ shove off." Arnold replied back angrily, as he shoved her back.

"The both of you are stupid." Marcelo said to them, as he shoved Arnold away from him.

"You shut up!" Helga and Arnold riposted back immaturely.

"Will you kids _SHUT UP_?" Miles snapped at all three of them angrily as he entered the vehicle. All three of them instantaneously went quiet as they looked at him in a stunned gaze.

It was now the time for a much needed help from Supermom, "Arnold: Middle. Helga: left side window seat. Marcelo: on the other." She ordered, pointing to the seat location that she just said as she glared at them. All three of them shuffled to their designated seats reluctantly, "One more word out from any _one_ of you and _nobody_ is going to the airport today. IS THAT CLEAR?" she yelled at them as she closed the car door behind her.

"Yes ma'am…" all three of them replied with a dull, dissatisfied tone.

But it wasn't over yet as neither the three of them were satisfied with their seats. "It's all your fault." Arnold whispered to Helga through his clenched teeth and moving lips. "And yours too."

Marcelo threw him a jab on the leg.

"No… your fault." Helga whispered back irately.

"I MEAN IT!" Stella yelled back as she banged the roof of the jeep. Then all of them smiled and waved at the waving crowd and left the village.

---

Once they arrived at Bolivar, San Lorenzo's capital, they could see crowds of people cheering and celebrating the capture of La Sombra at the main street. Military men marched proudly in the middle of the street as they waved, blew kisses and waved their weapons in the air to the people of San Lorenzo. Its citizens greeted their army with tears of joy, cheers, banners that said 'Congratulations' in Spanish, and the shouts of _"¡Viva la Resistencia¡Viva la Revolución¡Viva la Papa Monzano!" _Some girls couldn't help but to run to random soldiers and gave them kisses, which the soldiers accepted with no resistance at all.

And since the main street was the only access to San Lorenzo's airport, Miles had no choice but to drive through the huge crowd, asking the crowd to move away as he blew the horn repeatedly. Fortunately, they were cooperative as they gave way to the vehicle. As they moved along through the crowd, they could see Eduardo being hoisted up by a bunch of people as they hailed him as one of the people who brought La Sombra down. He waved and shook hands, continuously saying 'thank you' to the crowd for congratulating him. Miles winded the window down and shouted his name. Eduardo could hear his name being called in the midst of the shouts and hollers and looked to his left. He saw Miles in the jeep, giving him a thumbs up. He pointed at him as though he wanted to acknowledge him as well. Marcelo winded the window down, got out and waved at his hero.

"So mom, what's going to happen to La Sombra?" Arnold asked as he kept an eye on Marcelo's safety.

"Well, for starters, he's going to get prosecuted by his people for every single bad thing he has done to this country." She responded back as she waved to Eduardo.

"Happy days indeed." Helga said.

---

_At the airport…_

"Okay… I think that's the last of it." Arnold said as he loaded the last baggage onto a broken trolley. "C'mon Marcelo, you can ride on it."

"Cool!" he exclaimed happily as he jumped into the pile of bags. Arnold then pushed the cart as fast as he could around the airport, making silly engine noises. Helga, Miles and Stella smiled at their antics. Then, Miles and Stella gazed at each other deeply, and kissed.

"I'll see you in a week, okay?" Stella said to her husband upon releasing their kiss.

"Man, I'm gonna get _so _lonely…" he replied back, smiling. Arnold and Marcelo came back from their test drive and parked next to Helga. "C'mon, one more for daddy." Miles asked flirtingly to his wife as he caressed her soft, nice smelling hair. Stella complied as she smiled back at him, and they began to make out in front of the kids. Arnold almost wanted to puke and turned away from them, Helga had her eye twitched and Marcelo looked at them in awe as he said, "Cooooooool…"

"For God's sake mom and dad, there are children present… and you're in public for crying out loud!" Arnold said repulsively as he averted Marcelo's eyes away.

"But I wanna see!" Marcelo whined back.

"Not until you're older, kid." Helga said to him as she gave Arnold a hand to bring Marcelo far, far away.

---

_Later that night, at the Sunset Arms boarding house…_

Gerald drove his brother's blue colored car to the boarding house, where he could pick his best friend's grandparents up to the airport. The car was his responsibility now, as his brother was at an out-of-state college on the far side of the country. Jazz music by Harvey was playing softly on the audio system, as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of the music while driving the car. He stopped the car in front of the boarding house, but didn't get out from it yet. He just gazed at the boarding house, laughing softly to himself. All those fond memories playing with his friend in the boarding suddenly came back into his mind. The stoop where they would always chillin', the living room where they would watch Pop Daddy together, and baking cookies at the kitchen… wow, so many fond memories, and he would love to relive it again.

Gerald then got out from the car and walked up to the door and rang the bell, twice. About minutes later, Ernie opened the door, and greeted him, "Hey Gerald man, what're ya doing here?"

"Hey Mr. P. Just here to pick up the honorable elderly VIPs." He replied back good-naturedly to him. "Hey man, that outfit is tight! Any special occasions, man?"

"Heheh, yeah…" He said back nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "Lola forgave me yesterday, and I wanna make it up to her."

"Good luck, man." Gerald replied, smiling to give him confidence.

"Thanks." Ernie nodded, "So uh… Grandpa and Grandma is at the kitchen…" he pointed to the back with his thumb, "you know the way, right?"

"Yeah. See ya later man." He then gave him a pat on the shoulder, and left to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen he saw Phil reading a newspaper with glasses while Gerthie was busy rummaging through the fridge. "Hi grandma and grandpa." He greeted them.

Grandpa lowered the paper to see who was at the door, "Well, lookie here." He said with a contented tone, "Young Gerald to pick us up to the airport. How ya doin' sonny?"

"Would you like some snacks before we leave, sweetie? We have apple pie." Grandma said to him sweetly.

"No thanks, grandma." He refused politely. "Grandpa… it's not that I'm rushing you or anything, but when are we going to airport?"

"What's a matter?" Grandpa smiled snidely at him, "Can't wait to get your hands on the Packard for a spin, huh?"

Gerald smiled broadly. It seemed he knew what was his intention was, "Well, if you prefer my car, I'll be glad—"

"On that deathtrap jalopy? Heck no! Over my dead body!" he replied back with a raised voice. "We're taking my car, by gum, and that's the only way if we want to go to the airport! You drive." He beamed at him.

Gerald was overly giddy right now to know that he could finally drive a classic car that he always wanted to drive. "Where are the keys, good sir?" he asked, as he motioned his fingers to ask for the key.

* * *

It's not over yet. :) Thank you for reading, and please leave a review. Oh, and Merry Christmas to all!  



	19. Home

_Author's Note: _Final chapter, and thus the concluding chapter of this story. I finished writing this chapter some time last week before the New Year's but I decided to post it later because I want to build the tension up. :) I hope all of you readers out there enjoyed yet another product of insomnia from me, and hopefully this chapter will leave your hearts with satisfaction as every loose ends are tied up perfectly. I apologize if this chapter a tad long, but it is necessary since all the explanations are fully described in this chapter.

* * *

**Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.**

Chapter 19: Home

Several years ago…

"_Mommy and daddy will be back soon, okay?" __Stella said as she gave Arnold kisses on both sides of his cheeks._

"_You be a good boy to grandma and grandpa, okay Arnold?" __Miles said to baby Arnold as he handed him over a small airplane toy and rubbed his head. Grandpa then hoisted him up and held him in his arms, as he, Arnold and Grandma looked at Miles and Stella in ease, yet unnerving gaze. Arnold at that time couldn't comprehend what was going on, but he understood that his parents had to leave him momentarily and he was positive that they would come back soon. He raised his hands, and waved at them._

"_Bye mommy. Bye daddy."_

_Stella was nearing into tears, rethinking whether they should go for this mission. She wouldn't want to leave her son, and yet, she had a duty to perform to help the Green-Eyed people from the Sleeping Disease. Miles slowly brought his arm around her waist, and held her tightly. He brought his head closer next to Stella's ear and whispered, "We have to. I'm reluctant too, but we have to help them."_

_Stella closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. She nodded unwillingly, and slowly picked her luggage up. Before she closed the door behind her, she took one last look at Arnold and waved at him, who had a worrisome and hopeful look on his face._

"_All set, man?" the cab driver asked Miles as he received a bag from Stella and put it into the trunk._

_Miles nodded weakly, "Yeah. Don't take the 405, all right? It's gonna get crowded over there." He replied as he opened the passenger door for Stella. She went in and Miles followed behind her. The cab driver then ran to the driver's seat and drove away._

_Stella and Miles remained silent in the few minutes into the journey, as both in their minds was extremely concerned about Arnold's wellbeing. Arnold was the only thing that was occupied in their minds right now and they felt guilty for leaving their only child behind. Stella slowly brought her arm around Miles, and hugged him tightly. Miles consoled his wife and slowly rubbed her back to calm her down. "My parents will take good care of him. Don't worry about it."_

"_I know your parents will do a great job but…" Stella replied weakly. "The situation in San Lorenzo is pretty bleak. What if we won't—"_

"_No!" Miles opposed. "We'll make it! We _will_ leave before the conflict becomes hopeless."_

"_Hey man, I can't help but to hear," the cab driver asked as he took a sip from his hot coffee, "But are you guys saying you're going to San Lorenzo?"_

"_Yeah… is there a problem, man?" Miles asked back, slightly irritated._

"_Hah!" he scoffed, "_A_ problem? There's plenty of crap happening in that country, buddy. I gave this guy a lift just today, right? Don't know him, but he's a good kid nonetheless, saying that he's from San Lorenzo and all, and told me that there's this rumor about this Sober, Somber… Sombra guy or whatever his name is, is going to launch an attack on the capital. And the guy has what? A small army? Don't worry about it. I'm sure you guys will be perfectly fine there."_

_Miles and Stella gazed at each other worriedly. Obviously the cab driver wasn't informed about San Lorenzo as much as they were. _

---

Stella woke up with her eyes widened in fear. She scanned around in the dimly-lit area, and was in relief that she was on the right flight en route to Hillwood, with her son, Marcelo and Helga. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes, in relief to know that she just had a nightmare again about leaving Arnold. Better that than to relive the ordeal again, she thought to herself, although she always hoped that it would stop someday. She looked outside of the window and saw clouds being brightened up by the moonlight and lights emitting from the city below. The monitor in front of her showed their flight's progress. It indicated that the flight they were on just entered the United States airspace from Mexico and they were now reaching Phoenix. She let out a sigh of relief. It was safe now.

Still, Stella felt uneasy about it. She wanted to check on the children, just to make sure they were safe. So she got up from her seat, walking past the San Lorenzonians doctors, and walked downstairs from the comforts of First Class to the Coach Section. Upon seeing them, she smiled softly to herself, seeing Arnold and Helga sleeping with their heads next to each other, while Marcelo had his head on the window with the in-flight remote control on his hands. The blanket that was covering the kids didn't reach all the way up, so Stella decided to give a hand. Before she left, she again smiled to herself and said to them, "Sleep tight."

Then the lights went on and the pilot made an announcement through the PA system, "Good evening ladies and gents, in a few hours we will be reaching our destination. Air traffic control in Phoenix says that traffic is kind of tolerable, but we gonna have to watch out for some turbulence ahead. So before we land, we would like to serve you dinner to freshen you up. So, you'll be hearing from me again later, okay folks? Enjoy your dinner."

"Mom?" Arnold slowly opened his eyes, "What are you doing here? First Class isn't enough for you or something?"

Stella rolled her eyes at Arnold's sarcasm. First thing he did after he woke up he made fun of his own mother. The boy deserved a smack at the back of his head.

---

"Attention all passengers: United Airways flight UT1984 from San Jose has just landed and is currently taxiing to Gate 21. Thank you." The announcement from the airport tannoy said, much to Grandpa, Grandma, and Gerald's relief that their family members and friend had finally arrived home safely. The flapping sound of the airplane schedule board above Gerald annoyed him. He never really liked that flapping noises when it shuffled its announcement around. "Good news, guys. Arnold's flight just arrived." Gerald informed the elderly couple behind him as they got off from the escalator from the parking lot.

"I can hear it loud and clear, Gerald. I may have poor eyesight, but at least my ears are working like clockwork." Grandpa replied as he tapped his ear repeatedly with his finger. "Isn't it right, Pookie?"

"Huh? What?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes, "Mine may be fine but not hers. Heheh." Grandpa replied back to Gerald with a slight snide tone. "Gerald, could you bring me to one of those bookstores for a moment?"

"Uh, Grandpa Phil, we don't have the time—"

"Nonsense! We have plenty of time!" he then grabbed Gerald by his hand and dragged him to the nearest bookshop.

---

"Come on, mommy, daddy! Helga's plane just landed!" Olga said as she stopped for a while to allow her parents to catch up with her.

"Man, we've made it just in time!" Bob said as he ran towards her daughter.

Miriam on the other hand was barely keeping up with them, "Wait up… you two!"

"Make haste, mommy! Helga is probably waiting for us right now!"

---

"—and if you are a foreign national, welcome to the United States and if you're an American citizen, welcome back home. We had a splendid time serving you throughout the flight, and we hoped that our services would be most excellent to you. Thank you for choosing United Airways. This is your captain speaking, thank you and good night." And that was the last announcement coming from the pilot. Arnold, Helga and Marcelo were ready with their luggage and went in line to exit out of the plane. As they waited for the line to move, Arnold and Helga gazed into each other with smile on their faces and felt like they should gave each other a kiss.

Helga made the first move first, as Arnold slowly followed suit. Their lips touched one another gently, softly and warmly. Their tongue slipped into each other's mouth in gentle tenderness as they hugged each other lovingly. The line began to move, but they still continued on with the affectionate display, like they did not want it to end, and would keep on going.

"Hey, buddy." A guy poked Arnold on the shoulder from behind, "It's great you're with your girlfriend and all, but you really should be moving." The sentiment was agreed with many other passengers behind them. But Arnold and Helga kept on kissing. "Hey, pal. Come on." the guy behind Arnold poked him again. Some of the passengers who got fed up from waiting for the line to move jumped to the moving one next to them. "Hey, move it, man!" the guy snapped angrily. Upon releasing their kiss, Both Arnold and Helga laughed softly, turned around, and apologized to them.

"Sorry fellas." Arnold said apologetically to them.

"Next time, get a room." Another guy said, and it was followed by weak laughter from some of them, though they were annoyed previously. After being waved goodbye by the smiling flight attendants, they walked along the walkway, until they saw Stella waiting for them at the end. Upon seeing his mother, Arnold said to her, "Sorry we're late. We got held back for a while back there."

"Oh, really?" Stella scoffed skeptically, with her arms crossed. "Because when I asked a lady who just got out of the plane, she said she saw some guy and his girlfriend and they couldn't get their hands off each other and blocking other people's way. I assume those people she mentioned wouldn't happen to be you two, would it?"

Helga and Arnold were caught red-handed. Still, they smiled at Stella and tried to deny it, "Nope. Not us."

"Yes you guys are. Arnold's been rubbing— ow!" someone stomped on Marcelo's leg.

"Quiet you little pipsqueak!" Helga whispered angrily whilst still retaining her smile.

Stella rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Ugh, it doesn't matter. Next time, pick someplace else without causing inconvenience to other people around you, okay?" she gave him a snide advice as she smiled at her son.

The airport tannoy jingled a happy tune, and there was an announcement, "Attention passengers Dr. Maria Rodríguez, Dr. Stella—" a trolley nearby them suddenly fell down to its side, making a loud crashing noise, "and Dr. José de la Santísima: you are required to go to gate 17 for immediate boarding as Flight 2002 to Geneva is on final call. Please reach to your designated gate immediately. Thank you."

"Well, that's my flight." Stella said, smiling.

"Wow, so soon?" Arnold asked back.

"Unfortunately, yeah." She replied back, sighing. "Arnold, after I'm done with my business in Geneva, I'll be heading back here for a while to stay for a couple of days before I leave for San Lorenzo."

Arnold's face brightened after he heard that, "Really?"

"Yeah… I rescheduled my flight yesterday so I could stay in town for a while, you know, to check on things. And uh… since it has been a while since the last time we celebrated Christmas here, your dad and I are making plans to celebrate Christmas at the boarding house this year. Hopefully we'll make it."

Arnold's smile broadened even further upon hearing that. "But wouldn't grandma celebrate something else during Christmas? Like, I don't know, Thanksgiving? It'll ruin the mood, you know." He replied back good-naturedly.

Stella smiled a bit, and replied, "Don't worry about it. Dad said she has been less loony and more sane ever since she received the news that we made it out of San Lorenzo alive." Then there was a slight pause. "Hmm… Thanksgiving is next month right? I could re-reschedule my flight to San Lorenzo again until after it. What is the date today, anyway?"

"October 5th." Helga replied, which made both Stella and Arnold's face white in terror.

"That's the day when I left you with grandma and grandpa…" Stella said sullenly, remembering the time when she and her husband left for San Lorenzo and left Arnold parentless for a very, very long time. Arnold shook his head weakly, and replied:

"Mom, you don't have to worry." He replied with a calm voice. "San Lorenzo is a better place now, and better still, La Sombra just got captured yesterday. The same thing won't happen again, I promise. Besides, you're going to Geneva, mom. As far as I know, a _coup d'état_—" he turned to Helga and smiled at her. She smiled back since she was the one who introduced to him that word in the first place. And Arnold turned back to his mother. "—in Switzerland is _extremely_ unlikely."

"I know… but I'm worried Arnold." Her eyes began to mist, "What's going to happen to us if we got separated again?"

Arnold then gazed deeply into her eyes and said, "Mom, it _won't_ happen. I promise."

"Oh…" Stella then wrapped her arms around Arnold and hugged him tightly. Without any hesitation, Arnold embraced her and hugged back. Stella then gave a kiss on his forehead and said, "I love you, Arnold."

"I love you too, mom." Arnold smiled back. Helga was smiling as she put her hands on Marcelo's shoulder and pulled him to her side while looking at the tender moment between a mother and her son. She couldn't help but to feel the warmth. If only her mother was just as responsible and good as Arnold's mom, she would be very happy.

Then they released each other's grasp and Stella headed towards Helga and gave a hug. Helga was a bit stunned, but soon she accepted it, and hugged her back. "Thank you so much for helping me at the sick camp Helga."

"It's no problem at all." Helga smiled back as she tightened her grasp around her. Arnold was glad to know that Stella liked her a lot as he smiled at them.

Again, the airport tannoy jingle, "Final boarding call for Dr. Stella—" someone accidentally slipped on the wet floor. "Please go to your designated gate _immediately_ for boarding."

Then she came to Marcelo. She gave him kisses on both of his cheeks and hugged him tightly. "You take care yourself okay? Ask Arnold if you don't know what to do. And take care of him, all right? He may be an idiot," Arnold was offended a bit, but he smiled back, knowing it was common for his mother to make fun of him, to motivate him and all, "but he knows what he's doing... most of the time."

"Okay mom." Marcelo replied back, grinning broadly. After that, Stella took one last gaze at them, and left as she waved at them.

"Say hi to Grandma and Grandpa for me!" Stella said as she walked away to her gate.

"I will, mom!" Arnold waved back with Helga and Marcelo. After Stella went out of their view, they then headed to the baggage reclaiming area.

---

This was it. A few steps more Helga should be in view of her family. She was waiting for Arnold to come back from scouting the greeting area and to give her a report about her family. In her mind, she remained pessimistic. She wondered whether her family, especially Bob, was sincere about them being changed. The day when Bob assaulted his wife and threw verbal abuses at her still lingered in her mind. What if it was all a big lie? What if her family still remained the same? She now felt that coming back home wasn't a good idea in the first place. She'd rather stay in San Lorenzo with Arnold. As she waited forlornly on a bench, Arnold came into view and smiled upon seeing her. Her worries subsided a bit.

"I think you're gonna love what are you going to see." He said, beaming at her.

Helga came into her family's view. To her shock, she saw a huge banner that said, 'Welcome home, Helga!' being held by her father and sister. She was touched, and yet, a bit embarrassed by it. It was same thing that her parents would do if Olga just arrived home after a long flight from college.

"There she is!" Miriam shouted as she pointed at Helga upon seeing her walking out of a hallway. Her family quickly came running to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh… Helga honey… I miss you so much… don't you _ever_ do that again, okay?" Miriam said with tears of happiness as she planted her with kisses many times on her cheeks. Arnold and Marcelo could only smile upon seeing that.

"Mom… I'm sorry I made you worry about me…" she said in a muffled voice due to being hugged by her family members. She was in tears now to know that her family members actually cared about her.

"It's okay… it's okay." Miriam slowly released her grasp from her and looked at her face-to-face, gazing at her with her misty eyes, "You do know you're gonna get grounded for running away, don't you young lady?" she said as she wiped a tear off from Helga's eye with her thumb.

They both laughed softly and Helga replied, "I know mom. I know." And she hugged her back.

Arnold saw his family and his best friend emerging from the crowd. He tapped Marcelo's shoulder and pointed it to his grandparents and his best friend. Grandma smiled upon seeing him and she quickly ran to Arnold and gave him a big hug. "It's great to see you again, Grandma." He greeted her happily.

"Oh… look at you…" she said after she gave him kisses on his cheeks. "Look at you grown! You're so handsome…" she said, as she gave him a grandmotherly caress on his cheek as Arnold smiled embarrassingly back. Grandpa and Gerald just stood still and smiled at them. Gerald turned to his left and saw Helga. He lifted his eyebrow in confusion, and looked back at Arnold. He looked at Helga again. Grandma then released Arnold from her hug to let her husband the opportunity to greet Arnold, as Marcelo shyly came over to her. Arnold stood in front of his grandpa, sizing each other up while smiling to one another.

"Looks like I can't call you Shortman now, can I Tallman?" he said, giving his grandson a smirk. "On account you're taller than me."

"Heh, you can call me whatever you like, grandpa." He said, beaming back at him. Then there was an uncomfortable silence as they still keep smiling to one another.

"What's a matter? Too big and hip to hug your own grandpa now?" he teased him, smiling. "Too old to hug your own gramps? Afraid it might cramp your style?"

"Oh, come on grandpa." He chuckled, "I'm not like that…"

Grandpa snickered softly, and gestured both of his hands to tell Arnold to come to him, "Come here." And they hugged each other, as Grandpa patted his back. "It's great to see you again, Shortman. I really miss you, Arnold."

"I miss you too, Grandpa." Arnold said as he tightened his hug. They then released one another, and looked at each other one last time before Arnold proceeded to Gerald and give Grandpa to introduce himself to Marcelo.

"And you must be Marcelo. Arnold told me a lot about you." He smiled at him. He then took out a small 'Simple Spanish Phrases' book that he just bought at the bookstore from his pocket, and flipped to a page where he had creased earlier to mark the page.

"Hoooo— laaaa…" he read it slowly, stuttering and brokenly. "Me nom…bre esssss Grandpa Phil…"

"Uh… Grandpa…" Arnold tried to stop him, but Grandpa kept on going.

"I can speak English sir." Marcelo beamed back.

"Oh…" he chuckled embarrassingly, and looked at the book. "Then I bought this book for nothing, then."

Arnold smiled at Gerald, but Gerald eyed him with a careful, distrustful look. Arnold raised an eyebrow in confusion at the expression.

Gerald shook his head, and said, "Why you slimy, double-crossing, no good swindler! You've got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled."

Arnold pointed to himself innocently and mouthed, "Me?"

Gerald moved threateningly towards Arnold. Suddenly, he threw his arms around his startled, long lost friend and embraced him, and laughed. "Al salaam a'alaykum, man! How you doing, you old pirate? So good to see you!" the two old friends embraced, laughing and chucking, and did their grade school handshake.

"God, why are we still doing this?" Arnold laughed disbelievingly.

"It's instincts man! It's hardwired into our minds! Besides, it's unique and quirky!" Gerald replied back laughing, also in disbelief. "What are you doing here, man?"

---

Her whole family then released their grasp from Helga. Olga offered to carry her bags, and she nodded. Helga then gave her sister what was left of the money she stole from her before she left for San Lorenzo, but Olga laughed back and decided to give all of the 245 dollars to her back. A new mp3 player suddenly popped into Helga's mind, but reminiscing back the days where she spent in San Lorenzo, she'd prefer to give it to charity instead. Bob was contemplating something as she gazed warmly at Helga talking to her mother. Then, he suddenly said, "Uh… Miriam?" he rubbed the back of head nervously, "C-Can I speak with Helga for a while?"

Helga looked at her mother with a tense, dreadful gaze. Her mother understood her though, since she too faced the same ordeal. But she assured that her father had changed and pleaded her to go to her father so he could tell his side of the story. Helga was very reluctant, but the assurance from her mother and her sister persuaded her into agreeing into talking with Bob. Under a watchful eye from Miriam and Olga, Helga trudged reluctantly to her father and he brought her to someplace not crowded while still in Miriam and Olga's view. Bob chose a seat partially secluded near some decorative trees and a television set that showed the news. They sat in front of each other. Helga averted her eyes from Bob as he gazed apologetically at her. Knowing this wouldn't grab her attention, Bob finally caved in and said, "Helga… I'm truly sorry about everything that I did to you."

Helga turned to her father skeptically.

"What I said about you when I acting like an idiot in front of your mother, it was out of rage and anger. I didn't mean it at all. I shouldn't have said it. It was unthinkable, and I felt like I was the stupidest person ever when I said that. I did, and still feel guilty about it. You're my daughter Helga, and I love you with all my heart. It's just—"

"You're a hothead." Helga interjected, scoffing at him.

"A hothead, a blowhard, and a fool." He replied back, admitting to his flaws. "But, in these past few days, I've learned a lot about you, your mom and Olga. I will try to be a good father, and husband to my family. I _will _change my attitude for the sake of my family. But first, I want to ask you to forgive me, Helga." he said as he grabbed her hands.

Helga widened her eyes, stunned. Bob continued, "Please… forgive me for all the things that I've done to you. I will try to be a better father."

Helga averted her eyes again, contemplating about the words that Bob just said to her. It sounded honest and sincere, but she doubted that her father would stay true to his words and actually do what he said to her. She gazed at him again. Bob was dreadfully waiting for her to answer back, as he gazed softly at her with an apologetic, guilty look.

"Look…" Helga answered softly, "I don't want you to _try_. I want you to _do_ it. Words don't mean anything unless you take action and actually do it. I _want_ to believe that you're going to change, but… as of right now, my heart is filled with great doubt about you."

Bob lowered his head in disappointment. "But…" Helga continued, "You've taken the first step by talking about this to me, and I do hope you will take the next. For now, I will forgive you. But it will take an insurmountable effort for you to win my heart back." Helga then slowly got up and walked away. But before she left Bob all alone to let him reflect on her words, she stopped at her tracks and turned around and said to him, "Win my trust and love, _dad_."

Bob was elated when Helga called her 'dad' instead of Bob. His eyes brimmed with tears and smiled at her happily. "Thank you, Helga…"

"Promise me that you'll change… please." Helga replied softly as she carved a small smile on her face. Miriam and Olga were touched, and they too were in tears that the two of them finally reconciled. Helga then walked up to Olga and Miriam whilst Bob headed to Arnold and his family and friend.

"Heads up." Gerald warned him when saw Bob walking towards them. Arnold turned around, and looked at him with a somewhat discontented look.

"Uh, Roland…"

"_Close enough… at least it's not Alfred or some other dumb snotty name…" _Arnold rolled his eyes, "it's _Arnold_, Mr. Pataki."

"Uh… Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I… just wanna say thanks to you and your family for taking care of her when she was in that country."

"Yeah, sure." Arnold nodded, somewhat surprised, "It's nothing."

"I heard she had a wonderful time there." Bob said.

Arnold smiled a bit, "Let's just say she made a journey of self-discovery while she was there."

"Come on, daddy!" Olga suddenly shouted, "We're going home now!"

"Well, that's my cue." He said, pointing to the back with his thumb, "So… I'll be seeing ya." He offered his hand to shake with him.

Arnold nodded and accepted the offer, "Yeah… we'll be seeing plenty." He smiled at him. Bob then walked over to her family as they already on their way to the parking lot. Arnold could saw Helga smiling broadly at him while waving at him with her fingers and gave him a wink. Arnold smiled back broadly and he too, gave her a wave. Gerald was in a state of confusion with one of his eyebrows lowered and clenching his teeth when he saw the somewhat affectionate gesture between Arnold and Helga.

"What was that?" Gerald asked quizzically.

"I'll tell you on the way." He then turned to grandma and grandpa, getting acquainted with Marcelo, "Grandma, Grandpa, let's go home."

"And what's wrong with your nose?" Gerald asked again, noticing the bandage on Arnold's nose where Helga punched him yesterday.

"I repeat: I'll tell you on the way." Arnold replied back, slightly embarrassed.

---

"Oh, man… this is nice man. Paved roads at _last_." Arnold said, relaxing as he put both of his arms behind his head as he pushed his body all the way back to the seat. "It's nice to have to have a smooth journey home after all these years."

"Why, they don't have roads in San Lorenzo or something?"

"Gerald man, they only have dirt roads. It's rocky, muddy when it's pouring rain, and dangerous at that."

"Man…" Gerald shook his head, smiling, "And you love living in that place."

Arnold could only chuckle back softly. "So, happy now you've finally got the opportunity to drive my grandpa's car?" he asked.

"Yeah man." Gerald chuckled proudly, "She's everything that I thought she would be. It's an honor to drive this epitome of class. So, tell me man. Why did you suddenly want to go back home? Are the Caribbean girls ignoring you? _Lila_ maybe?" Gerald said jokingly as he drove through Route 405, arguably the quickest way to the boarding house.

Arnold raised an eyebrow, "What the heck? Lila? The 'ever so' prude, religious chick Lila?" he shook his head, smiling, "What's gone into you, dude? I was over with her when we were in _grade school_, for God's sake!"

"Heheh, just messing with ya. 'Sides, she's with Stinky right now." He chuckled, "So what up? What brings you here to the ol' neighborhood?"

Arnold chuckle a bit as he lifted his leg up onto the seat, "Heh, I have a lot of reasons. But mostly, it's because of him." He motioned his head to the backseat, where Grandma and Grandpa were getting acquainted with Marcelo, asking a lot of stuff to him.

"Oh yeah. The family resemblance is _so_ obvious." He said again jokingly. "He looks like one of those Green-Eyed people you mentioned so much. Is he one of them?"

Arnold smiled at his response, "Heh, yeah, he's an Isayan. We called them The Green-Eyed people informally. He's an orphan... like me several years ago. My family promised his grandmother to bring him to this country if she… well, pass away."

Gerald raised his eyebrow in shock, "Are you saying his grandma just died?"

Arnold nodded weakly.

"Poor kid." Gerald shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah… that's why I'm here man, to take care of him like a big brother. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah… but big brothers can be such a pain in the neck, man." Gerald said good-naturedly. "So… what up with the 'don't tell anyone I'm coming home' bit? You wanna make a hot entrance, doncha? You dog you."

"May be." Arnold replied with a snide smile. "What are you guys doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, I guess." Gerald shrugged.

"Heh, this could be fun. Call them up and tell them to meet at Slausen's. That place is still in business, right?"

"Yup." Gerald nodded. "Slausen's, huh? Couldn't there be a better place than that?" he asked again.

"Hey, how should I know there's a better place than Slausen's. That's the only place that still survives from my childhood memories, man. _And_ that's the place where I would make my entrance. Everyone would be like: Whoa my God! It's YOU!" he said enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, they would be _thrilled_!"

"Still, I'm kind of worry about Helga though. I should ask her whether she want to come tomorrow." Arnold said, "If she won't, maybe I should postpone it to another day or something."

"Hmm… speaking of Helga, it must be a pain having her staying in your place for the whole week."

Arnold raised an eyebrow in shock, and calmly, he replied, "No man, she was totally cool during her stay there. I really enjoyed having her as a guest."

Gerald gave him a quick quizzical glance, "Are you feeling all right man? Or living in the jungle really has taken a toll on your health? We're talking about Helga here. She must've given you a hard time there."

"Yeah, I know we're talking about Helga, Gerald." Arnold replied back, "But no, she's not a pain, she's amazing! She's a wonderful person! She helped my mom with the patients, generally being nice and fun to be with… I really don't see why people hate her."

Gerald was still in a state of disbelief, "Are you sure we're talking about Helga G. Pataki here?"

"Yes!" Arnold snapped, "She's nothing like in the emails that I received from some of the guys. I mean, you're in the same school with her right? So tell me, is she just as terrible as they thought she was? Because when she was in San Lorenzo, she's a totally different person, man!"

"Hey, just chill a'ight?" Gerald tried to calm him down, "I'm just saying. Why are you being so defensive about her?"

"Because Helga is Arnold's girlfriend now." Marcelo interjected suddenly.

"WHAT?" Gerald screamed. "You have _got_ to be joking, man! You two?"

"Yeah. Something wrong with it?" he asked demandingly, slightly angered.

"No…" Gerald replied back in great doubt. "You and her…? Man, never thought I'd see the day…"

"Well… you'll have to get used to it sooner or later." Arnold replied, smiling.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold. A bold kid." Gerald replied back, also smiling. And so Gerald exited the highway through an onramp and got back into the streets. Arnold admired the old neighborhood, as it was just almost as same as the day he left this beloved place. Businesses come and go, but buildings still remained the same. It retained the grimy old look that was so familiar to him. He could hear the loud rattle of an elevated subway train above them that he missed so much. The overpass above the buildings was still as busy as ever. And to Arnold's surprise, Mr. Green's Butcher Shop had been renamed to Green-Berman Butcher Shop and Mrs. Vitello's shop had a new, more attractive looking sign in front of the shop.

"Man, so little has changed…" Arnold said softly.

"Still the same neighborhood we all love so much…" Gerald replied back, smiling softly as he pulled the car into the driveway.

---

The Patakis was still on their way home, but throughout the journey, they talked casually amongst each other with keen enthusiasm. Every family member in the car felt this was the most peaceful moment in their life, because usually they would start bickering with one another if they were together. As the car went its way through the empty road, Helga saw Phoebe's house in the distance, and remembered the time when she sought shelter there, she turned down Phoebe's sincere hospitality and unexpectedly attacked her, straining their friendship. The guilt was still evident in Helga's mind, and she wanted to apologize to her best friend for all the trouble she caused.

"Dad?"

"Yes Helga?"

"Could you please stop in front of that blue house at the corner of the street for a while?"

Bob nodded, as he would do anything to win her trust. "Sure."

The doorbell rang again, at the precise moment where her favorite show was about to start. Phoebe groaned in annoyance, got up and headed to the front door. Hopefully whoever this person was, the acquaintance would be brief. To her surprise, Helga was at the front door. "Helga? What are you—"

Helga immediately embraced her and said to her in a broken, sobbing voice, "I'm so sorry Phoebe. I'm so sorry…"

Phoebe was absolutely stunned to see Helga was back home, in accompany with her loving family who looked at them with a pleased smile, and the touching display she gave to her. Slowly, Phoebe brought her arms around her, and embraced her best friend back. "It's okay Helga… It's okay. Congratulations for getting your family together again…"

**THE END

* * *

**

**_IT'S OVER!_** Ahh, finally. But first, let me make a self-review of myself. Let's be honest, I think there's no denying the fact that I absolutely _suck _at romance fics, but I can manage action/drama/comedy. It's like putting Jerry Bruckheimer into making a romance movie (And we _all _know how bad Pearl Harbor turned out). But then, you would ask me why I put romance in the genre display. I don't know, probably it was for advertising purposes I guess:) since I emphasized drama more in this story. I don't intend this story is about Arnold and Helga myself (because _we all _know how it's going to end), because to be perfectly 'ever so' honest, I want to tell a story about San Lorenzo and The Green-Eyed people since little is explained about them in the show. That's why I went through the trouble of creating the background story of them to make San Lorenzo as a believable as possible and for us to symphatize with the Green-Eyed people. Further elaboration will be explained, but as of now, this is the end of the story. I'd like to thank you all for reading, and please leave a review. It has been a pleasure.


	20. Extras

Chapter 20: Extras

Extra Scene

"Okay, will the guardian please sign on this dotted line and everything should be finalized." A large, middle aged man pointed to a paper on a table to Grandpa Phil. Grandpa then took a pen out from a decorative mug lining on the table and produced his signature on the paper, as he was being watched by the middle aged man and his grandson Arnold.

"Is that all Principal Wartz?" Arnold asked the middle aged man.

"That's all to it." he replied back. "Hmm… I am somewhat surprise to see you again on the school grounds young man. I thought people like you would never come to this kind of place for a visit after they moved on."

"Well Principal Wartz," Arnold replied, smiling, "I just want to help Marcelo on his first day of school. Also, I have this urge to see an old teacher of mine."

"Mr. Simmons? Ah yes. Well, he'll be teaching your…" he looked at Marcelo, "brother for the rest of this school year's academic calendar. So…" he took the documents and examined it, "All papers have been signed accordingly, and he is now a student of PS 118. Congratulations." He then shook his hands with Marcelo. "Mr. Simmons' class is still in the same room when you were a student in this school, and I _hope_ you still know the way to your former class."

"Don't worry about it, Principal Wartz." Arnold replied, smiling, "I know my way around the old place." He then looked to Marcelo, "C'mon man, let's go to your class."

"Okay class, today we're going to learn about parts in an internal combustion engine." Suddenly the door was knocked, and Mr. Simmons sighed, "Could you excuse me for a while, class?" he then walked out from the class, and much to his surprise, he saw an old student of his.

"Oh my… Arnold." He said in disbelief and surprise, putting both of his hands to his chest, "This… this is a pleasant surprise."

"I see you're still teaching here, Mr. Simmons?" Arnold replied, smiling at him.

"Uh… yes, yeah." He replied back, in disbelief, "This is such at a short notice. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to escort your new student." He said as he put both of his hands on Marcelo's shoulders.

"Ah, so you're the one who I've been expecting these past few days." He said and shook hands with Marcelo. "Well Arnold, I'd like to thank you so much for bringing him here."

"No biggie. Glad to help."

"So, I'll see you later, okay?" Mr. Simmons said.

"Yeah… I might pay you a visit at your house this weekend."

"Oh… please do." He insisted, "We have lots of catching up to do." They then shook their hands. Mr. Simmons then looked at Marcelo and asked, "What's your name?"

"Marcelo." He replied back.

Mr. Simmons nodded, and opened the door, "Class, I have a very special announcement to make. Today, we have a new student in class," then murmurs and whispers began to circulate around the class, "and I hope that you all will welcome him with open arms. Class, meet Marcelo." Marcelo walked in, without the help of his crutch. His stubbly leg was now fitted with a prosthetic leg, which he got it sometime ago with the help of Arnold, his grandparents, Helga and Dr. Steiglitz. He wore brand new clothes, and yet despite of his new garbs, he still retained the symbol of his people: the tribal armbands that he proudly wears. The door behind him closed, and Arnold and Grandpa peered through the window on the door to look inside the class. They saw Mr. Simmons asked him to sit at an empty seat next to a girl. He nodded, and walked to the designated seat normally. Mr. Simmons then resumed his teaching.

"Hi, I'm Jasmine." The girl next to Marcelo introduced herself.

"Marcelo." Marcelo nodded back.

"Nice to meet you, man." A boy in front of him said to him.

"Thank you." He answered back.

"He'll be fine, Shortman." Grandpa said, putting his arm around Arnold's shoulder.

"C'mon grandpa. Let's go home." They then walked away from the class. As Arnold walked down the hallways of PS 118, his reminisced back his childhood days when he was a student here. Hopefully, his life here would be no different than when he was a kid.

The Concept

To tell you the truth, 'Run' is not a romance story between Arnold and Helga but rather, a story about San Lorenzo and the Green-Eyed people. I decided to write it because there wasn't any thorough explanation about San Lorenzo and the Green-Eyed people in the show, and therefore making them very ambiguous and mysterious. It's probably what the writers of the episode intended but I feel it'd be great if we know more about them. The pool of Arnold Helga romance fic (and romance fic in general) in the Hey Arnold section is so enormous that I feel it's not necessary to put another one in. Thus, I prefer to emphasize more on drama and comedy than romance and the relationship between Arnold and Helga is just one of the minor subplots that I've written throughout this fic. Though I originally intended it to be a romance story (sorta), but eventually I abandon the concept in chapter four after realizing that I'm just not that good in writing romance.

The focal theme of this story is hope. And to carry the theme, I tell the conditions of living in an undeveloped nation, in contrast of our lives in well-to-do countries in which we are fortunate enough to live in and born in. I also have been to these kinds of countries before, so the somber look is still etched in my mind. I just thought it would be refreshing to do something like this rather than writing the usual Arnold-Helga story. (You know… relationship…) As I told you before, romance is not my forte, and I'm sure there are lots of writers out there who write a better romance fic than me.

The goals are to have this fic to be as close as it could get to Hey Arnold's show, so it means that there will be no cussing, it's a kid-friendly and wholesome family entertainment that everyone can enjoy, their characters are close to their behaviors and attitudes in the TV show and be completely squeaky clean. Pop culture references are far and between because I want this fic to be… well, 'timeless'.

Inspirations came from variety of stuff, but mostly from my interests in current events and history. I wish I could pick Political Science as my minor but they're not offering it. Movies also made a lot of contribution and I'd like to suggest watching _Hotel Rwanda, Grave of the Fireflies, The Motorcycle Diaries_ (_Diarios de Motocicleta_) and _Beyond Borders._

San Lorenzo

San Lorenzo's geography and history is derived from various sources, fictional and non-fictional. The name is obviously from 'The Journal' episode and also it's taken from a name of a principal location in a book called 'Cat's Cradle'. Some elements in this story are taken from that book and I modified heavily because I want to do my own interpretation of San Lorenzo rather than carbon copying the original work. Furthermore, the San Lorenzo depicted in the book isn't at all like Hey Arnold's so I altered it to be relevant to 'The Journal' context.

The non-fictional stuff is a compilation from various countries in the world. The history of San Lorenzo is a rough adaptation of Cuba's history, and the current condition of San Lorenzo is pretty much derived from a country called East Timor. To assist visual imaginary of San Lorenzo, watch the 'Parents Day' and 'The Journal' episodes and if you watched King Kong already, think Skull Island as San Lorenzo, without the dinosaurs, monsters, and the natives. I zealously want this fanfic to be as close as possible to the original content (TV show) because I feel the story would be better accepted due to the sense of familiarity if it sticks to the Hey Arnold model.

San Lorenzo is also home to problems that many undeveloped and war-ridden countries are facing, and most of the problems are based on past and present hotspots and conflicts in the world. So in a sense, you could say that San Lorenzo is an allegory to those nations. The stories of war, famine, pestilence, and starvation were all referenced or roughly based on Darfur Region Conflict in Sudan, Iraq War, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Persecution, The Mideast Conflict, Cold War, Rwandan Genocide, and the Cuban Revolution. Creating awareness is so much fun.

Still, with all these political undertones to the world's past and current events, I tried to remain as neutral as possible. There isn't any pro this or anti that statement in this story. I even regret writing the one with the oil statement in chapter seven because it sounded too naïve. Though, I must admit this story has a bit of pro-democracy— um, I'm not going to elaborate any further… yeah. Free Aung San Suu Kyi!

As I said before, Arnold and Helga's relationship is one of the few subplots in this story. The others are Arnold's relationship with his parents, Miles and Stella's backstory on how they managed to survive all these years (this I stress the most since the show never addresses this one before), Helga's relationship with her family, and Helga trying to understand and sympathize with this foreign land called San Lorenzo. And in order tell these stories, certain characters had to be created.

Characters

Marcelo was created because it helps people understand what The Green-Eyed people had to suffer throughout the years under the repression of La Sombra. Marcelo's family was subjected to genocide (parents), malnutrition (sister) and forced child conscription (brother). Marcelo himself is a landmine victim. Later in the story, a new problem arise which makes Arnold and his parents split due to two different opinions. Arnold feels that by taking away Marcelo to another country will make him forget his own people and culture while his parents think that it would be the best way to help them rebuild and preserve their society. This type of story has been explored a lot in many documentaries where the narrator laments that the native people that they're showcasing will lose their identity due to rapid modernization occurring around them and something must be done in order to preserve their way of life.

Mona, a name that I took from the book, served as Helga's voice of reason and the person who tells Helga (and the readers) why San Lorenzo is in such a bad state. She also serves as the person who tells the recent history of San Lorenzo and why La Sombra is so hated in this country. Helga could reflect her story from Mona's since they both share a few similarities between them. Helga is influenced greatly by her and it shows in later chapters that Mona's words are really the reason why Helga opened up to Arnold in chapter 12.

Father Campbell saved Arnold's parents, but I never actually tell how he managed to save them because I cut his scenes out from the fic because I feel the context doesn't go quite well for a show for kids. The idea on how Father Campbell saved Miles and Stella and the Green-Eyed people was similar to _Hotel Rwanda's_ protagonist on how he saved the refugees.

Salma's role is just to bring Helga to Arnold's house and to introduce to her about San Lorenzo. She originally intended to be Olga's friend from college and informed Olga about Helga's whereabouts. Her role was then minimized because Olga had already found a clue to where Helga ran to – the note that she left for her.

But still with all these extra characters, I try to minimize their scenes as much as possible because I don't feel they go well with the readers.

Miles and Stella in this story are aid workers working for the United Nations in San Lorenzo. Stella is a doctor for the Red Cross which has ties with WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). Miles on the other hand, works for a museum that collaborates with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) although it's not mentioned in the story. United Nations plays a major part in this story, mostly on San Lorenzo's development.

I had no reason to describe how Arnold, Helga, Phoebe and Gerald look like in their teens because I feel I'm forcing my own interpretation of them on to you. I feel it'd better if you do your own interpretation of them so the immersion would be easier and to your taste. Some of you might interpret Arnold having short or long hair, beefed up or skinny, lanky or short. Helga has either shoulder-length hair or chin-length hair, well-endowed or not well-endowed, anorexic or otherwise. I don't care. It's up to you to imagine how they look like.

My regret is that I couldn't expand Eduardo's story more, since this guy has a lot of potential. Still, it's cool to make him one of the heroes of San Lorenzo that plays a part in overthrowing a tyrant like La Sombra.

Other Goals

Make San Lorenzo as believable as possible by describing every setting and every location in every chapter in minute detail. It gives you a mental image how truly beautiful and yet, deplorable San Lorenzo is.

Since almost every other Hey Arnold story is set in the city where the gang lives in, I think it's a nice twist to set the majority of the scenes in an undeveloped country like San Lorenzo. Even after Hey Arnold's unfortunate cancellation, San Lorenzo and the Green-Eyed people never much made into the fandom's spotlight.

Minimize the appearance of Arnold and Helga's friends. Only Gerald and Phoebe are an exception to this since they're their best friends. And because of the Arnold-Helga subplot, it was better for me to concentrate on their character development as a whole. Even if I wanted to put their friends into this story, I'll be doing it just for the sake of appearance, and nothing else.

Chapter Commentary

**Chapter 1 – Waiting: Chapter title is appropriately named because Helga is waiting to board her plane.**

I have nothing much to say here except this is about the introduction to Helga's portrayal as a poignant character. It hints that Helga has problems back at home and the broken vase just strengthened the impression. The broken vase in the middle of the hallway also serves as a symbolism of a broken family and it is mentioned several times throughout the story.

**Chapter 2 **– **Broken: To emphasize that Helga's family is in a complete mess and in this point of the story all hope of them being together is lost.**

This chapter highlights the reason why Helga ran away from home, while still preserving its ambiguity. Olga serves as a major role in this chapter where she tries to mend the broken family. It also shows that Olga does care about Helga, regardless what Helga thinks of her older sister.

**Chapter 3 – Journey: Helga's journey to San Lorenzo and eventually to Arnold's residence.**

My favorite chapter in the whole story. Helga sleeps a lot during her journey, which mirrors what I usually do during a long flight. I really enjoyed writing this piece because it's just me describing the scenery and the scene while keeping the dialogue to a minimum. I'm not a big fan of writing dialogues since it is difficult to write them and I have fears of it going to turn wooden. I have always imagined Helga's wit and sarcasm would be just as great as _Dr. Cox_ in _Scrubs _but it's going to take a while if I ever go to their level of writing. On the last scene, I originally wanted Arnold and Marcelo roughhousing with each other instead of playing chess, but I realized the latter would be much more dramatic.

**Chapter 4 – Arrival: Helga's arrival, and as usual, a warm welcome from Arnold.**

Arnold and Helga are alone together for the first time, but we all know it's not right if Helga blurts her confession to Arnold since it's too early. I don't feel Abner's presence is necessary since he won't contribute anything to the story, so the piggy gets the boot. Arnold hinted San Lorenzo's bleak past in this chapter, and the chapter introduces to where Arnold lives in San Lorenzo. The Expatriate Village is constructed by the respective expatriate's company to house their employees in San Lorenzo and they are in constant protection provided by the United Nations. Miles and Stella later are shown for the first time when they're driving home after a formal function in the capital. Miles' hate for the wasteful function shows that he cares a lot about the people in San Lorenzo.

**Chapter 5 – Morning: The story is set in the morning. Also, I had no idea what to name this chapter before I came up with the title.**

The furniture arrangement was written just because I want to make this chapter longer. Heheh. This chapter has my most favorite scene in it: the conversation between Arnold and his mother, Stella. I really love how they react with each other, and their chemistry really shows that they have a lot of respect and admiration with one another. It emphasizes the strong connection and the bond that the both of them longed so much after being denied for many years. But, it was exact opposite happened at the Pataki house where Bob tried to hit Miriam, but Olga successfully intervened. Then came the most significant scene where Bob cried and begged for forgiveness from Miriam. We always see Bob as a jerk and blowhard, but never as a caring father and husband. This scene paints a more compassionate side to Bob, as I don't want to antagonize him a lot. Unfortunately, I contradicted this on chapter 12. The breakfast scene is nothing special, since it's a typical family breakfast scene with a start of a recurring joke about Arnold's last name.

**Chapter 6 – Tour: The tour of San Lorenzo. Fasten your seatbelt folks, and let the tour guide introduce you to this wonderful country.**

The first scene is a typical husband-wife argument, nothing special about it. The scene expands and reveals their concern for Helga and the consequences of her being here. And as parents, there's always some degree of distrust and doubt about their children because they too used to break the rules. Stella's rather rebellious past is also revealed for the first time. And onto the tour! The tour basically revisits the places and locales in 'The Journal' and also going to new places not in the episode such as Stella's Red Cross Sick Camp. Revisited places mentioned both in 'The Journal' episode and this fic are the famous excavation site where Miles and Stella met for the first time and the volcano which I decided to name it myself (Cabrakan – based on a Mayan God which mountains and earthquakes are his domain), and the hill where Miles and Stella climbed before they slipped and fell into the river. Helga delivered the classic "I'm so going to punch Eduardo for this!" line just like Stella did in 'The Journal' episode. The same hill and the same line actually foreshadows Arnold and Helga's relationship in the future, not to mention to put some déjà vu feeling to it.

**Chapter 7 – Together: Arnold and Helga is finally together alone. Though, I was reluctant to name it so because they'll officially be together in the last few chapters later.**

To me, this scene would be perfect if there was music playing behind it. I've always admired Jim Lang for composing the songs in Hey Arnold. Anyway, I always tell myself that this is the reader's most favorite and popular chapter due to the high number of hits this chapter received.Maybe you guys like it so much because this the only chapter where it only involves Arnold and Helga are together on top of a hill alone whilst looking at the breathtaking view and just talking about their themselves and their surroundings and disregarding the world around them. Regarding Arnold's ambition, I always thought of him of being a photojournalist since he's such a compassionate guy and I feel he'd travel around the globe just to tell the world about other people's hardship due to poverty and war. Helga on the other hand, I always thought of her being a writer instead of a poet… and about the oil statement, I really regretted writing it. It sounded too naïve. I realized that even the mention of it in this fic the story would become too 'political'. So for the rest of the fic, I decided to stay neutral.

**Chapter 8 – Evening: The story is set in the evening. Also, I had no idea what to name this chapter before I came up with the title.**

This chapter's pacing is a little bit too slow for me, and I think a lot of you could feel it too. The narrating line 'Arnold quickened the pace and stepped on the gas pedal in hoping they would reach home in time before the day would go completely dark. He hoped the same thing that happened to him and his father years ago wouldn't happen to him again' refers to Arnold's childhood after a few months of staying in San Lorenzo. He and his dad were on their way home when suddenly one of the wheels gone flat. As they tried to change the wheel, Arnold had the urge to take a leak and went into the jungle to relieve himself up. But to his astonishment, after walking for some while he came across into a clearing. And to make matters worse, it had a horrid smell, and as he walked further into the clearing, he tripped onto something, and to his horror, he saw a bone sticking out from the ground. The clearing was actually a mass grave where genocide victims were buried – and Marcelo's parents were in it. His dad quickly came to his rescue and brought him to Stella's sick camp, where he was treated for mental trauma for weeks. This paints a really dreadful look on the story and I decided to cut it out because it was too dark for a fanfic that I want so much to be close as possible to the TV show.

**Chapter 9 – Concern: Arnold and Helga's family's concern about her. **

Helga's first day as a volunteer, and the introduction to Arnold's deceased baby brother. His untimely departure is an analogy to infant mortality rates in undeveloped countries where malnutrition and the lack of good healthcare are frequently blamed to be the cause of it. The Sleeping Disease and its cures are named by Stella, basing on her hatred for La Sombra and her love for Arnold. Though we never see Stella and her husband speak Spanish in the show, but it is necessary for them to speak the language so they could interact easily with the local people. The decision of making Helga not knowing Spanish was made because I needed humor material and to show Helga that she cares a lot about the people here that she's willing to learn the language. Mona, the old lady that spoke to Helga chapter six plays a huge role to help her and convince her to open up to Arnold. And back at the Pataki's house, the family is still worried about Helga and thanks to Olga, they finally found a major lead.

**Chapter 10 – Patience: Helga is testing Miles' patience and Stella's request for her husband to be patient. **

This story's timeline is set roughly around nine days. Since there's nothing to tell in two of those nine days, this story is fast forwarded two days further. Then, I got to a write a scene about Miles' clumsiness, and that was the only one in this fic. I wish I could make him more comical, though. Towards the end of this chapter, a person dies from the Sleeping Disease. But since I want to write this story to be as close as possible to the show, such disturbing images could not be shown. That's why it was _implied_, rather than _described_. After the scene ends, Mona then came to Helga and consoled her. This was done so Helga could develop a sense of trust around her.

**Chapter 11 – Decision: Helga's decision of finally opening up to Arnold about her problems back home.**

Another tender scene between Helga and Mona, just to show that their bond is strengthening. Back at Arnold, I just want to show the readers what Arnold would do if he had no cargo to deliver – he went to the library and daydreams. It's just a reminisce to the early seasons of Hey Arnold (Seasons 1 & 2) where he daydreams a lot in class. During the rain scene, I originally wanted to have a group of guerillas loyal to La Sombra to follow Arnold and kidnap him. But Arnold fights back and the scene will be very similar to _Raiders of the Lost Ark _whereIndiana fights with the bad guys on a moving vehicle (namely, the truck). 'The Journal' had a lot of references to the Indy movies (E.g. Miles' clothing was almost similar to what Dr. Jones is wearing), and by writing Arnold in this scene just expands the continuity to that episode. Than again, Arnold is too young to take on a group of trained guerillas and it's not right to put an action scene in a story that emphasizes on drama. So it was cut off. The story then continues to another touching scene with Arnold and his mom, and then he and Helga.

**Chapter 12 – Truth: Helga's tells the truth why is she here in San Lorenzo.**

The chapter starts with Helga blaming everyone in her family for the ordeal she's facing. The decision to make Olga a married woman was made because she was about in her mid-twenties when Helga's a teenager, so it was appropriately so to write her to be one. Also, the decision to leave Olga's husband to be ambiguous was made because I want the readers to make their own interpretation of him of how he looks like and such. The drama scene was coordinated and written to be touching as possible and to make us sympathize with Helga and Miriam. Still, I feel kinda bad for antagonizing Bob so much, even though I originally wanted to show him as a good person, even with all the crap he'd done to his family. Phoebe's scene was created because I needed to show that Helga really needed someone's help at this point, and Phoebe was the perfect candidate since she's her best friend. But Phoebe makes mistakes sometimes, and this is where she made her mistake. Still, I felt the explanation that I gave was kinda weak because I wanted a stronger reason to justify Helga running away. Eh, that's what you get when you ran out of ideas /. The scene changed, and now back in the present. Arnold is well known for his advice and problem solving, but in this case, he's unable to solve Helga's problem because it was too complex. Everyone is not perfect.

**Chapter 13 – Conflict: Helga is conflicted with Stella over her presence in San Lorenzo.**

I hate long chapters, don't you:) San Lorenzo's Independence Day is a day after the signing of Treaty of Paris, indicating that it participated in the Spanish-American War. Other facts were a reference to a collection of some really poor countries. Bokononism is a made-up religion that was featured in the 'Cat's Cradle' book. After some research, there is a real Sleeping Sickness which I conveniently put its facts at the end of the chapter. Stella is really awesome in this chapter, as she effectively pressed Helga to reveal her motive of being in San Lorenzo. Stella then told Helga her story back when she was young, just to show that running away from home is a stupid idea (and it is). The story then develops where Stella finally convinced Helga to call her parents, and she did so. Still, Helga is still scared of Bob, and when he asked to talk with her, Helga opposed to it greatly. Bob is saddened to indicate that the gap between them is still not bridged.

**Chapter 14 – Orphan: Marcelo becomes a total orphan, and Arnold reminisced his childhood days where he used to be one.**

I always think that the Green-Eyed people must have a real name instead the ones that Miles and Stella used to call them. The naming of 'Isayan' as their original name is based on a combination of two words, '**Is**la' and 'M**ayan**', and thus, Isayan. It's not from _Dragon Ball_ or anything… Saiyan anyone? And regarding their history, I really had fun creating them, as I thought it would be the most plausible story about their people. Throughout human history, people have overcome insurmountable odds to expand their territory, and the Green-Eyed people accomplished it by traveling to an unknown place driven by the will to survive. The Green-Eyed culture is thoroughly explained and decision to 'kill' Marcelo's grandmother is made so Arnold can sympathize and relate with him and justify his reason to want Marcelo to stay in San Lorenzo, as opposed to his parents who want to send Marcelo to The States. Arnold's 'extended' family is shown for the first time, and Arnold's reveals to Helga why Stella is going to Geneva in a few days. Arnold angry with his parents was written because I want to show that even with the most wholesome of all families, there's always a time where they differ in their opinions and fights.

**Chapter 15 – Family: Arnold tells Helga how his parents survived after years being trapped in San Lorenzo.**

Eduardo's speech is written both in Spanish and English because it helps Spanish and English language students to brush up the languages they're learning. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, but by reading the both of them it kind of helps me to familiarize with the language. The bulk of this story is mostly about Arnold telling Helga how his parents survived after being trapped in San Lorenzo for so long. The show left us with a void regarding this matter and this is just a small contribution from me where I express my views and reasons on why his parents went missing during the length of the entire show. The fanbase generated a lot of discussions about it too so this chapter is where I expand the debate even further. Feel free to discuss about it. The missing parents theory is one of the big subplots that I want to share in this story.

**Chapter 16 – Intimate: Arnold and Helga's relationship is advancing to a whole new level.**

This is the most laidback, carefree, lighthearted and fun chapter in this story in comparison of the bleak, somber and depressing chapters before this. It's fun to write Arnold and Helga's chemistry in this chapter, as I always thought their relationship will always be a love-hate type of relationship rather than lovey-dovey ones. The ice-cream analogy is just a reference to that one episode which I've forgotten it's title, and also it's a reference to another outstanding _Nicktoons, Invader Zim._ (See the pilot episode). Arnold inciting revenge on Helga and she threatens him and punches him in the face, what can be more exciting than that? I originally planned a scene where they were rolling in grass then I decided not to write it because it's too... silly. And after their fun at the waterfall, they came back home, and then, Arnold confessed. Helga is happy. The very fabric of reality is tearing apart.

**Chapter 17 – Night:** **The story is set during the night. Also, I had no idea what to name this chapter before I came up with the title.**

Arnold and Helga, finally together. Nothing raunchy and risqué here, since I want to keep this story clean. And when Helga brought Marcelo's issue up to Arnold, he's upset because she doesn't share his opinions with him. And when Helga said "…people like us to guide him. You know… like a sister, or brother." A new character dynamic suddenly develops. Since Arnold's brother is dead, Marcelo would be the one choice if Arnold wanted to become a brother. And as for Helga, by being a big 'sister' to Marcelo, she now knows how it's going to feel like to be in Olga's shoes. And Marcelo finally knows how it's going to feel like to have a brother and sister again, since he lost his brother to forced conscription and his sister to malnourishment. And because of Helga's words, Arnold finally sees the reason what's best for Marcelo. The chapter ends with a happy note, where La Sombra is finally captured.

**Chapter 18 – Goodbye: Everyone is saying goodbye, and they finally leave San Lorenzo.**

The conversation between Miles and Arnold is written because throughout the story, they really never do share a same scene together. This was a last minute effort to have them in one scene talking the usual father-son stuff, as opposed to mother-son talk with Arnold and Stella. The chicken line is a reference to the 'Back to the Future' trilogy. I'm big fan of the movies, and this is just my way to say thanks for all the fond childhood memories that the movies had given to me. And in the middle scene where Arnold, Helga and Marcelo fights for the window seat is reminisce to all of my long family field trips, which I hate so much. I'm sure you have experienced the same situation as I did.

**Chapter 19 – Home: They arrived home. A conclusion chapter.**

All the loose ends have been tightened up, and it's now for them to reunite with their family once again. A truce is finally declared between Helga and Bob, and Arnold finally sees his grandparents again, after not seeing them in years. Arnold and Gerald meet again and they do the old handshake, and I thought of a pinch of _Star Wars_ reference wouldn't hurt the scene. Arnold defends Helga from Gerald shows that he really does love her and the scene where the Patakis talking with each other in the car establishes that they're warming up to one another. There was a scene I originally written where Helga told Olga about San Lorenzo needs volunteers and Olga was quick to make the decision about staying there. It's sort of a way for Helga to get rid of her sister once and for all :). It was cut since Helga no longer hate Olga that much since she offered shelter to Helga during her parents' fight back home and it didn't go well with the dialogue flow. After a final scene with Phoebe where Helga apologize to her, I then end the story without cliffhangers, indicating that the story is officially done, except for the extra scene in this chapter.

Postscript and Afterthoughts

Thank you to all the reviewers for giving me support throughout the story. I'm actually kinda stunned to receive a lot of encouragement from you guys. And I'm very flattered to hear someone actually translated this story into Russian. I'm so thrilled!

This will be my first and last Arnold-Helga fanfic. Don't expect me to write anything like this in the future, although a Gerald-Phoebe fanfic sound pretty tempting right now. HINT! HINT!

Thanks to _acosta pérez josé ramiro_ for translating most, if not all the Spanish sections and dialogues. The simple Spanish translations were made possible with Babelfish.

This story was created due to boredom and insomnia.

A lot of chapters in this story would go well with some The Corrs (All romantic scenes), System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine (The 'political' stuff) songs. Try it.

My apologies if I offended you in some way.

My thanks to Craig Bartlett for creating such a great cartoon show for all of us to enjoy. I'm pursuing a career in animation now because of your show.


End file.
